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GIFT   OF 
Ben.iamin  Ide   ?/heeler 


HISTORY 


Agricultural  College  Land  Grant 


JULY    2,   1862, 


TOGETHER   WITH 


A   STATEMENT  OF  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE   FUND, 


DERIVED   THEREFROM   AS   IT   NOW  EXISTS 


IN  EACH  STATE  IN  THE  UNION. 


ITHACA,    N.    Y.  : 

JOURNAL   BOOK    AND   COMMERCIAL  PRINTING   HOUSE. 

1890. 


O- 


t/3 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 


On  the  1 2th  day  of  September,  1889,  there  was 
mailed  to  the  Treasurer  of  each  State  in  the  Union  a 
circular  letter  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 


LAW  OFFICES  OF 

HALLIDAY  &  FINCH, 

22  East  State  Street,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 


To  THE  Treasurer  of  the  State  of 


Sept.  1 2th,  1889. 


Dear  Sir. — In  1862,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  passed 
an  Act ;  "  Donating  public  lands  to  the  several  states  and  territor- 
ies which  may  provide  Colleges  for  the  benefit  of  Agriculture  and 
Mechanic  Arts,"  and  apportioning  to  each  State  public  lands  or 
land  scrip  equal  to  thirty  thousand  acres  for  each  Senator  and  rep- 
resentative in  Congress. 

The  State  of  New  York  made  Cornell  University,  at  Ithaca, 
N.  Y.,  the  sole  beneficiary  of  the  fund  derived  by  it  from  the 
said  lands  or  land  scrip. 

There  is  now  pending  between  Cornell  University  and  the 
State  of  New  York,  an  entirely  friendly  action,  in  which  both 
sides  ask  for  a  judicial  construction  of  many  provisions  of  said  Act 
of  Congress,  and  a  determination  of  the  obligations  and  relations 
of  the  State  to  the  said  fund. 

It  is  deemed  desirable  to  ascertain  as  far  as  possible  what  has 
been  the  actual  practice  in  the   various   States   and   Territories   in 


41 1277 


IV 


regard  to  the  management  of  said  Agricultural  Land  Scrip  Fund. 
As  every  State  will  be  interested  in  the  decision  in  the  above  case, 
we  venture  to  make  the  following  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  man- 
agement and  condition  of  the  fund  in  your  State  : 

First — Has  there  been  any  Judicial  determination  or  construc- 
tion of  said  Act  of  Congress  in  your  State?  If  so,  can  you  inform 
us  where  the  decision  is  reported,  and  as  to  its  general  nature  ? 

Second — What  institution  is  the  beneficiary  in  your  state  ? 

Third — Does  your  State  pay  to  the  said  beneficiary  the  full  5 
per  cent,  income  contemplated  by  said  Act  of  Congress,  whether 
the  fund  actually  earns  5  per  cent,  or  not  ? 

Fourth — Does  your  State  pay  out  of  its  general  funds  all  the 
"  Expenses  of  the  management,  superintendence,  &c.,"  of  said 
fund,  such  as  commissions,  premiums  on  securities,  &c.  ;  or  are 
thise  expenses  taken  from  the  actual  income  of  the  fund,  and  the 
balance  of  said  income  only  turned  over  to  the  beneficiary  ? 

Fifth — Briefly  and  in  general  terms,  please  give  us  the  nature 
of  the  securities  in  which  the  fund  is  invested. 

Sixth — Has  the  State  ever  parted  with  the  custody  of  any  of 
the  principal  of  said  fund  ;  or  intrusted  its  management  to  the 
beneficiary,  or  to  any  other  person  for  the  beneficiary  ? 

Seventh — What  is  the  amount  of  the  principal  fund  in  your 
State  ? 

If  you,  as  Treasurer  of  your  State,  are  not  the  proper  person 
to  furnish  the  above  information,  will  you  kindly  see  that  this 
communication  is  handed  to  the  proper  officer  or  department  ? 

An  early  answer  is  much  desired. 

Very  truly  yours, 

HALLIDAY  &  FINCH, 
Att'ys  for  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Answers  have  been  received  from  all  the  States. 
Most  of  them  have  been  received  from  the  various 
Departments    having  charge  of  the  fund,   and  may 


therefore  be  considered  as  official.  The  others  came 
from  sources  that  are  undoubtedly  reliable.  These 
communications  have  already  served  the  purpose  for 
which  they  were  obtained,  as  indicated  in  the  above 
circular,  but  it  has  been  decided  that  they  contain  in- 
formation of  such  historical  interest  and  importance 
as  to  justify  their  publication  in  full.  They  will  be 
found  in  the  following  paoes  indexed  under  the 
names  of  the  respective  States.  These  communica- 
tions contain  a  complete  history  of  the  Agricultural 
College  Land  Grant  Fund,  created  by  the  Congres- 
sional Act  of  July  and,  1862,  and  show  the  amount  of 
the  fund,  the  nature  of  the  securities  in  which  in- 
vested, the  rate  of  interest  realized,  the  system  of 
management,  the  name  of  the  beneficiaries  and  the 
general  status  of  the  fund  as  it  now  exists  in  each 
State  in  the  Union. 

To  make  this  volume  more  complete  in  itself, 
the  Congressional  Act  referred  to  above  is  also 
printed. 

It  appears  by  that  Act  that  each  State  had  to, 
and  by  accepting  the  fund,  did,  assume  certain  bur- 
dens and  responsibilities  in  regard  thereto,    one  of 

which  was  (Sec.  5)  that  : 

"If  any  portion  of  the  fund  invested 
as  provided  by  the  foregoing  section,  or  any 
portion  of  the  interest  thereon,  shall,  by  any 
action  or  contingency  be  diminished  or  lost^ 
it  shall  be  replaced  by  the  State  to  which  it 
belongs,  so  that  the  capital  of  the  fund  shall 
remain  forever  undiminished.  " 


VI 
The  Act  also  provided  (Sec.  4)  that  : 

"All  moneys  derived  from  the  sale  of 
said  land  and  Land  Scrip  should  be  invested 
in  safe  stocks  of  the  United  States  or  of  the 
States,  or  some  other  safe  stocks  yielding 
not  less  than  five  per  centum  upon  the  par 
value  of  said  stocks,  " 

Also  (Sec.  3)  : 

"That  all  expenses  incurred  in  the  man- 
agement and  disbursement  of  the  moneys 
which  may  be  received  therefrom  shall  be 
paid  by  the  States  to  which  they  may  be- 
long out  of  the  treasury  of  said  State.  " 

The  New  York  Court  of  Appeals  has  decided  in 
the  case  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  circular  {The 
People  ex  Re  I.  Cornell  University  v.  Davenport^  28 
New  York  State  Reporter^  yg6)  that  premiums  neces- 
sarily paid  in  investing  funds  in  the  prescribed  class 
of  securities  must  be  paid  by  the  State,  and  not  out 
of  the  fund  itself  or  its  income. 

At  the  time  the  various  States  accepted  this 
grant  and  assumed  these  burdens,  it  was  not  difficult 
to  find  "safe  stocks  yielding  not  less  than  five  per 
centum  upon  their  par  value,  "  without  paying  any 
premium  therefor.  Such  "  safe  stocks  "  can  still  be 
obtained,  but  at  a  very  large  expense  for  premiums. 
Assuming  that  such  stock  can  be  purchased,  these 
provisions  amount  to  a  practical  guaranty  of  a  per- 


VII 


manent  income  of  at  least  five  per  centum  upon  this 
fund  in  every  State  in  the  Union. 

^^0.  2X^0  Matter  of  McGr aw ^  iii  N.   Y.  pps.  11^ 

IIS,  129- 

In  view  of  these  obligations,  it  becomes  a  mat- 
ter of  practical  importance  to  note  how  each  State 
has  invested  this  fund. 

Many  of  the  States  have  already  turned  these 
funds  into  their  respective  treasuries,  and  have  issued 
to  their  respective  beneficiaries  their  obligations  in 
various  forms,  in  which  they  agree  to  pay  a  fixed  rate 
of  interest  varying  in  amount,  but  never  less  than 
five  per  cent,  on  the  principal  of  the  fund. 

Such  has  been  the  treatment  of  this  fund,  and 
the  rate  of  interest  paid  in  the  following  states, 
namelv  : 


Maine, 

5  per  cent 

New  Hampshire 

6 

Indiana, 

5 

Vermont, 

6 

Louisiana, 

" 

Pennsylvania, 

6 

North  Carolina, 

6 

South  Carolina, 

6 

Ohio, 

6 

Missouri  and  Wisconsin  (in  part)  invested  these 
funds  in  "  Certificates  of  Indebtedness,  "  issued  by 
the  State,  in  which,  in  Missouri,  five  per  cent,  is  reg- 


VIII 

iilarly  paid,  and  in  Wisconsin,  six  per  cent.  Mich- 
igan also  used  this  fund,  and  the  evidence  of  the 
State's  indebtedness  consists  simply  in  an  open  book 
account  on  which  the  State  pays  six  per  cent.  Geor- 
gia, it  appears,  treated  this  fund  in  the  same  way  and 
also  pays  seven  percent.  ]\Iaine  adopted  this  plan  of 
investment  as  late  as  June  ist,  1889,  and  the  other 
States  at  varying  earlier  dates.  All  these  were  in 
fact  investments  in  '■''Slaie  Stocks^''  as  provided  for 
in  the  Congressional  Act. 

The  States  thus  investing  the  fund  save  them- 
selves from  the  expenses  and  burdens  of  manage- 
ment and  also  from  any  responsibilities  or  liability  to 
restore  any  portion  of  the  principal  or  interest  which 
may  be  lost  in  consequence  of  unfortunate  or  un- 
wise investments  or  by  any  other  "action  or  con- 
tingency. " 

Alabama,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Virginia,  Ken- 
tucky, Florida,  Nevada  (in  part),  Maryland  (in  part). 
New  Jersey  and  Delaware  have  accomplished  practi- 
cally the  same  result  by  investing  this  fund  in  their 
own  state  bonds.  Whether  these  bonds  had  been 
previously  issued  for  other  purposes,  or  were  issued 
especially  for  this  purpose  does  not  always  clearly  ap- 
pear. In  either  event  it  is  evident  that  when  these 
State  bonds  mature  there  is  nothing  left  for  the  States 
to  do  but  to  issue  new  bonds  or  to  treat  the  princi- 
pal in  some  other  way  as  a  direct  State  liability  on 
which  interest  annually  will  be  paid  to  the  bene- 
ficiaiy.  It  is  plain  that  this  is  the  most  practical  way 
of  managing  this  fund  and  one  which  all  the  States 
will  probably  sooner  or  later  adopt.  The  remaining 
States  invested  this  fund  in  what  they  at  least  regard- 
ed as  "  other  safe  stocks.  " 


IX 


The  Congressional  Act  has  been  amended  so  as 
to  permit  the  State  of  Iowa  to  invest  this  fnnd  in 
bonds  secured  by  mortgages  on  unincnmbered  real 
estate.  No  other  State  has  the  right  to  indnlge  in 
such  investments.  But  it  will  appear  that  in  Con- 
necticut and  California  and  a  few  other  States  a  por- 
tion of  this  fund^  is  thus  invested.  For  a  short  time 
that  practice  prevailed  in  the  State  of  New  York,  but 
under  the  advice  of  the  Attorney-General  the  bonds 
and  mortgages  were  collected  and  the  practice  aban- 
doned. 

In  no  State  has  the  actual  income  fallen  below 
five  per  cent,  except  in  Nevada  and  New  York. 

In  Nevada  the  state  invested  a  large  portion 
of  this  fund  in  government  four  per  cent,  bonds,  but 
the  state  paid  all  the  expenses  of  management,  in- 
cluding premiums,  and  made  up  the  "diminution" 
below  five  per  cent,  by  making  other  large  appropria- 
tions to  the  beneficiary  out  of  its  general  funds. 

In  the  state  of  New  York  the  investments  have 
recently  been  made  largely  in  government  bonds 
bearing  a  rate  of  interest  less  than  five  per  cent. 
These  investments  were  made  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
"other  safe  stocks"  bearing  a  rate  of  interest  of  at 
least  five  per  cent,  could  be  obtained.  The  actual 
income  of  the  University  was  also  diminished  by  the 
state  taking  all  expenses  for  premiums  out  of  the 
income. 

The  right  of  the  state  to  invest  in  securities 
bearing  a  rate  of  interest  less  than  fi\e  percent,  when 
"safe  stocks"  could  be  obtained  bearing  a  rate  of  in- 
terest of  at  least  five  per  cent,  has  not  yet  been  pre- 
sented to  the  courts  of  this  state. 


X 


Rut  the  practice  of  taking  the  expenses  of  inaii- 
ageiiieiit  of  tlie  fund,  such  as  premiums,  commissions 
&.C.,  from  its  income,  has  been  condemned  by  the 
New  York  Court  of  Appeals  in  the  recent  decision 
already  referred  to.  This  practice  seems  to  have 
prevailed  only  in  the  State  of  New  York. 

In  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  as  a  matter  of  book- 
keeping, these  expenses  seem  to  have  been  charged 
against  the  income,  but  it  was  a  matter  of  no  import- 
ance to  the  beneficiary,  since  that  state  appropriated 
to  the  beneficiary  each  year  out  of  its  general  funds, 
in  addition  to  this  income,  a  sum  much  larger  than 
these  expenses. 

It  will  also  appear  from  an  examination  of  these 
communications  that  Massachusetts  is  the  only  state 
in  the  Union  where  the  income  of  the  fund  has  been 
divided  or  given  to  different  institutions.  To  fritter 
away  a  fiuid  of  this  kind  by  dividing  its  income 
would  seem  to  be  unwise.  At  least  such  seems  to 
have  been  the  practical  conclusion  arrived  at  in  each 
of  all  the  otlier  states. 

In  1865  a  strong  effort  was  made  to  divide  this 
fund  in  the  state  of  New  York  among  various  insti- 
tutions, each  one  asking  for  a  portion  thereof  But, 
through  the  exertions  of  the  Hon.  Andrew  D.  White, 
then  a  senator  and  afterwards  President  of  the  Uni- 
versity, the  scheme  failed.  Mr.  White  was  very  ef- 
fectively aided  in  his  etTorts  in  this  direction  by  a 
fellow  senator,  the  Hon.  Ezra  Cornell,  who  announced 
that,  if  the  State  of  New  York  would  give  the  ic/io/e 
income  to  a  single  institution  to  be  located  at  Ithaca, 
N.  Y.,  he  would  supplement  its  endowment  by  a  half 
a  million  of  dollars  out  of  his  own  private  fortune. 


XI 


This  o-enerous  offer  was  finally  accepted  bv  the  State, 
and  thus  was  founded  Cornell  University. 

The  histor\-  of  ever\'  institiUion  endowed  in 
whole  or  in  part  by  this  fund  is  a  part  of  the  history 
of  the  fund  itself. 

Cornell  I'nixersity  was  incorporated  in  1S65.  It 
is  scarcely  twenty-five  years  old,  but  its  equipment 
and  material  resources  to-day  are  second  only  to  a 
few  institutions  in  this  country  ;  while  the  existence 
of  a  faculty  and  instructing  force  of  over  one  hun- 
dred, and  the  presence  of  1323  students,  as  appears 
by  its  last  catalogue,  indicate  its  growth  and  pros- 
perity in  other  respects. 

The  author  of  the  Agricultural  College  Land 
Grant  of  1862,  commonly  known  as  the  "Morrill 
Cxrant,"  was  Justin  S.  Morrill,  then  and  ever  since  a 
United  States  ^enatox  from  WMUiont.  As  some  little 
recognition  of  the  great  good  accomplished  by 
Senator  Morrill  through  this  Congressional  Act, 
Cornell  University  recenth'  i)laced  his  portrait  in  its 
public  library  alongside  of  that  of  Ezra  Cornell  and 
its  other  benefactors.  The  Unix'ersily  has  also  named 
one  of  its  main  buildings  ''  Morrill  Hall,"  but  his 
greatest  monument  is  to  be  found  in  the  large  "  Land 
Scrip  Fund  "  now  devoted  to  the  cau.se  of  education 
in  each  state  in  the  Union,  and  which,  under  the 
guaranty  of  the  state,  will  be  as  permanent  and  as 
lasting  as  the  State  itself. 

With  a  few  exceptions,  the  land  scri]i  and  lands 
located  therewith  luu'e  been  already  coiu'erted  into 
money,  and  the  fund  in  each  State  has  become  a 
definite  and  fixed  sum.  More  than  a  quarter  of  a 
centur\-     has    elapsed     since    the     Morrill     .\ct    was 


XII 


passed.  But  a  careful  exaniiuation  of  all  these  coiu- 
municatious  will  reveal  the  fact  that  the  sale  aud 
disposition  of  this  land  scrip,  on  the  whole,  has 
been  wisely  made,  and  the  fund,  thus  far,  has  been 
honestly  administered.  Nor  does  it  appear  that  any 
State  at  any  time  has  failed  to  meet  promptly  all  the 
obligations  and  responsibilities  imposed  by  the  Act 
of  Congress  except  in  the  State  of  New  York,  where 
through  misunderstanding,  or  more  probably  inatten- 
tion to  the  provisions  of  the  Congressional  Act,  the 
expenses  of  management  were  taken  from  the  in- 
come, but  this  has  been  corrected  by  the  Courts. 

The  amount  and  present  condition  of  this  fund 
in  the  State  of  New  York  is  fully  set  forth  in  the 
opinion  of  the  New  York  Court  of  Appeals  alreadv 
referred  to,  aud  which  is  printed  in  this  volume.  It 
will  appear  from  that  that  the  ''College  Land  Scrip 
Fund  "  proper,  being  that  portion  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  sale  of  the  land  scrip  which  is  in  the  custody  of 
the  State,  is  $473,402.87.  This  would  seem  to  be  a 
very  small  sum  when  it  is  considered  that  the  State 
of  New  York  received  scrip  representing  nine  hun- 
dred and  eighty-uine  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
twenty  acres.  But  the  statement  of  this  fact  contains 
but  a  very  little  of  the  history  of  this  fund  in  the 
State  of  New  York. 

All  of  the  northern  states  received  their  scrip 
practically  during  the  same  year.  The  great  mass  of 
it  was  immediately  thrown  upon  the  market.  The 
result  was  that  it  was  being  sacrificed  at  sums  rang- 
ing as  low  as  fifty  cents  an  acre. 

Ezra  Cornell,  the  generous  founder  of  the  Uni- 
versity, saw  that  by  this  process,  the  amount  realized 


XIII 

from  this  fund  in  the  State  of  New  York  would  be 
ver}-  disappointing  and  unsatisfactory.  Therefore,  in 
1866,  he  made  a  contract  with  the  State  of  New 
York,  sanctioned  b\'  the  Legislature,  in  which  he 
agreed  to  purchase  the  remainder  of  the  scrip  then 
unsold  by  the  State,  as  an  individual,  and,  without 
going  into  details,  he  agreed  to  pay  in  the  first 
instance  sixty  cents  an  acre  therefor,  which  amount 
should  be  added  to  the  College  Land  Scrip  Fund, 
and,  as  the  result  of  such  payments,  that  fund  now 
aggregates  $473,402.87.  Mr.  Cornell  also  entered 
into  an  obligation  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same 
instrument,  with  ample  security,  in  which  he  agreed 
to  locate  lands  with  the  scrip  thus  purchased,  in  his 
own  name,  to  pay  the  taxes  and  all  expenses  of  such 
location,  to  sell  the  land  in  twenty  years  and  to  pay 
all  the  net  proceeds,  over  and  above  the  expenses  and 
the  sixty  cents  an  acre  above  referred  to,  into  the 
treasury  of  the  State  of  New  York.  This  latter 
amount,  namely  ;  the  amount  realized  over  and  above 
sixty  cents  an  acre  and  the  expenses,  was  to  constitute 
a  separate  fund  to  be  called  the  "Cornell  Endow- 
ment Fund,"  the  income  of  which  should  be  devoted 
forever  to  Cornell  University.  For  further  details 
see  the  contract  itself  printed  hereafter  in  full. 

Mr.  Cornell  at  once  entered  upon  this  Herculean 
task.  Within  a  few  years  he  located  over  half  a 
million  acres  of  pine  land  in  the  west,  principally  in 
the  State  of  Wisconsin.  Some  sales  were  made,  but 
not  enough  to  pay  the  expenses  and  taxes,  and  before 
his  great  work  was  half  accomplished,  death  removed 
him.  With  the  consent  of  the  State,  Cornell  Uni- 
versity then  took  the  lands  thus  located  by  Mr.  Cor- 
nell, assumed  his  obligations  and  undertook  to  carry 


XIV 

out  his  contract.  Then  there  followed  years  of  great 
depression  in  the  land  business  ;  sales  were  few, 
taxes  high,  expenses  great  and  the  needs  of  the 
University  greater.  Many  times  before  the  year  1882 
the  majority  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  keenly  sensi- 
tive to  the  pressing  wants  of  the  University,  would 
willingly  have  sold  all  the  lands  thus  located  for  a 
million  or  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  dollars.  But, 
fortunately  for  the  University,  the  chairman  of  its 
Board  of  Trustees  and  of  its  land  committee,  was  the 
Hon.  Henry  W.  Sage,  the  founder  of  Sage  College 
for  Women  at  Cornell,  and  otherwise  one  of  its  great- 
est benefactors.  He  had  great  practical  experience 
in  the  management  of  pine  lands,  and,  following  his 
superior  judgment,  although  many  times  with  great 
misgivings,  the  University  trustees  held  onto  the.se 
lands  until  in  the  year  1882,  when  there  came  a  great 
advance  in  their  value.  Since  that  time  the  lands 
which  the  majority  of  the  trustees,  always  excepting 
Mr.  Sage,  was  willing  to  sell  for  a  million  or  a  million 
and  a  quarter  of  dollars,  have  already  realized  nearly 
five  millions  of  dollars,  and  there  is  still  unsold  and 
undisposed  of  pine  and  farm  lands  of  an  estimated 
value  of  upwards  of  a  million  dollars  more. 

By  the  report  of  Henry  W.  Sage,  chairman  of 
the  land  committee,  made  in  October,  1889,  it  ap- 
pears that  up  to  August  ist,  of  that  year,  there  had 
been  realized  from  the  lands  thus  originally  located 
by  Mr.  Cornell,  over  and  above  the  sixty  cents  an 
acre  paid  to  the  State,  the  sum  of    .    .  $4,920,747.75. 

Mr.  Sage  estimates  the  lands 
unsold  to  be  worth $  1,267,323.86 


$  6,188,071.61 


XV 


It  will  be  readily  seen  from  the  above  that  the 
benefits  which  have  accrued  to  Cornell  University 
from  the  counsel  and  practical  experience  of  Mr. 
Sage  far  exceed  his  many  money  contributions,  al- 
though the\'  already  aggregate  a  million  dollars.  The 
same  may  also  be  truthfull)-  said  of  ]\Ir.  Cornell 
whose  contributions  far  exceeded  the  half  a  million  of 
dollars  originally  promised.  It  was  Ezra  Cornell, 
the  founder,  who  conceived  of  and  entered  upon  this 
bold  scheme  ;  it  was  Henrv  W.  Sage,  the  benefactor, 
who  carried  it  to  a  successful  execution. 

In  1 88 1  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New 
York  entrusted  this  whole  "Cornell  Endowment 
Fund"  to  the  custody  of  the  University  itself.  The 
New  York  Court  of  Appeals  has  decided  that  this 
branch  of  the  fund  is  not  impressed  with  the  trust 
imposed  by  the  Congressional  Act  upon  the  $473,- 
402.87  known  as  the  "College  Land  Scrip  Fund," 
now  in  the  hands  of  the  Comptroller. 

Matter  oj  McGrau\  11 1  N.   K,  uj  &  I2g. 

The  above  case  is  now  in  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  and  this  question  is  still  unde- 
cided. 

In  the  State  of  Illinois,  by  the  terms  of  the  act 
incorporating  the  University  of  that  State,  the  State 
transferred  by  assignment  all  its  right,  title  and  inter- 
est in  and  to  the  land  scrip  issued  by  the  general 
government  to  the  State,  vested  the  absolute  title  in 
the  University;  and  "absolved  itself"  (so  the  lan- 
guage is)  "  from  any  further  liability,  &c." 

Each  vSlate  accepted  this  fund  as  a  trustee,  the 
terms  and  obligations  of  the  trust  being  clearly  de- 


XVI 

fined  in  the  Congressional  Act.  It  is  very  certain 
that  a  State  cannot  absolve  itself  from  liability  as 
such  trustee  by  any  legislative  enactment,  certainly 
not  without  the  consent  of  the  United  States.  It  is 
very  certain  also  that  the  State  of  Illinois  is  still 
liable  as  guarantor  for  the  existence  and  j^erpetuity  of 
this  fund  in  that  State. 

The  State  of  California  still  holds  the  title  to  this 
fund  as  trustee,  but  it  has  entrusted  its  whole  custody 
and  management  to  the  University  of  California, 
located  at  Berkeley,  being  the  beneficiary  in  that 
state. 

The  State  of  Rhode  Island  transferred  its  scrip, 
when  received,  to  Brown  University,  under  a  contract 
with  that  institution,  in  many  respects  similar  to  the 
contract  of  1866,  between  the  State  of  New  York  and 
Ezra  Cornell,  Brown  University  farther  agreeing 
to  perform  all  the  duties  and  assume  all  the  liabili- 
ties imposed  by  the  Congressional  Act  upon  that 
state. 

The  following  tabular  statement  shows  the 
amount  of  scrip  assigned  to  each  state,  the  amount 
realized  in  full  and  per  acre  : 


STATE. 

NO.  ACRES. 

AM'T.  REALIZED 

TOTAL  AMT. 

PR.  ACRE. 

REALIZED. 

^   Arkansas.    . 

.    .  150,000 

$    .90 

$135,00000 

Delaware.   . 

.    .    90,000 

.92  + 

83,000  00 

Maryland.  . 

.    .  210,000 

•55 -f 

115,94300 

Alabama.    . 

.    .  240,000 

1.06— 

^53)500  00 

Maine .    .    . 

.    .  210,000 

.56.- 

118,300  00 

XVII 


Illinois 450,000 

Oregon 90,000 

t  New  Hampshire.  150,000 

Rhode  Island.    .  i2o,-ooo 

"California.  .    .    .  150,000 

'■  IMissonri  ....  330,000 

Indiana 390,000 

Wisconsin  .  .  .  240,000 
W.  Virginia.  .  .  150,000 
Massachusetts.  .  390,000 

Ohio 630,000 

Nevada 90,000 

Vermont.  .  .  .  150,00a 
Pennsylvania.  .780,000 
Tennessee.  .  .  .  300,000 
Nebraska.  .  .  .  90,000 
Connecticut.  .  .  180,000 
N.  Carolina.  .  .  270,000 
S.  Carolina.    .    .  180,000 

Texas 180,000 

Kansas.  ....  90,000 
Mississippi  .    .    .  207,920 

Florida 90,000 

Georgia  ....  270,000 


04+ 

53+ 
41  + 
14+ 

52- 
87+ 
51  + 
60 

56+ 

54+ 

90+ 
52+ 

iVA 

44 

75 

46-,- 

07- 

16, 

57+ 
90+ 

90 


450,000  00 
93,985  00 
80,000  00 
50,000  00 

771,686  86 

170,000  CO 

340, 000  00 
363«  738  88 

90,000  00 
2 1 9, 000  00 
342,450  80 

95,000  00 
135.50000 
406,000  00 
403,50000 

3900452 
135,000  00 
125,000  00 
191,800  00 
209,000  00 
501,42633 
188,028  00 
155,80000 
243,000  00 


XVIII 


Iowa 

.  240,000 

2.70+ 

649,396  16 

jMinnesota  .    . 

.  120,000 

4-39 

526,837  96 

New  Jersey  . 

.  .210,000 

•55 

116,000  00 

Virginia .    .    . 

.  300,000 

•95 

285,000  00 

Colorado.    .    . 

•    90,000^^^;/; 

"1.25 

112,500  00 

IMichigan.  .    . 

.  240,000     " 

2.50 

600,000  00 

Kentucky  .    . 

.  330,000     " 

.60+- 

200,000  00 

Louisiana  .    . 

.  210,000 

I.OO 

2IO,OCO  00 

New  York  .    . 

.  989,920 

6.73- 

*6,66i,473  88 

9,597,840        $1.65+      $15,866,371  39 

The  foregoing  statement  as  to  the  amount  of 
scrip  assigned  to  each  state  is  based  in  a  few  cases 
upon  official  communications  received  from  the 
states.  So  far  it  may  be  considered  absolutely  ac- 
curate. But  in  most  cases  it  is  based  upon  the  as- 
sumption that  each  state  received  the  amount  of 
scrip  to  which  it  was  entitled  according  to  the  census 
of  i860,  as  provided  for  in  the  Congressional  Act. 
As  to  some  of  these  states  therefor  the  amount  of  the 
scrip  may  be  in  a  few  instances  over  stated.  For  ex- 
ample, Mississippi  and  New  York  are  each  short  of 
scrip  to  the  amount  of  80  acres.  This  arises  from 
the  fact  that  under  section  second  of  the  Congres- 
sional Act,  the  scrip  was  apportioned  "  to  the  several 
States  in  sections  or  subdivisions  of  not  less  than  one 
quarter  of  a  section,"  or  not  less  than  160  acres  in  a 


*  Cornell  Endowment  Fund $6,188,07101 

College  Land  Scrip  Fund 473,402  87 


|6,66i,473  8S 


XIX 

single  scrip.  It  is  probable  therefore  that  a  shortage 
may  exist  in  several  of  the  States  to  the  same  amount 
as  in  the  States  of  Mississippi  and  New  York. 

It  will  appear  from  the  above  that,  largely 
through  the  individual  efforts  of  Mr.  Cornell  and 
Mr.  Sage,  the  scrip  assigned  to  the  State  of  New 
York  has  produced  a  larger  fund  for  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation in  proportion  to  the  amount  assigned,  than  ex- 
ists in  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  In  fact,  the 
total  fund  in  New  York  is  more  than  one-third  of  the 
total  amount  realized  in  the  whole  United  States. 
The  price  per  acre  realized  from  the  sales  made  by 
the  State  of  New  York  itself  is  about  fifty  cents  an 
acre.  So  that,  as  the  result  of  the  plan  conceived  by 
Cornell  and  carried  out  by  Sage,  the  price  per  acre  in 
the  State  of  New  York  has  been  raised  from  about 
fifty  cents  to  more  than  six  dollars  and  seventy-three 
cents  an  acre. 

Kansas  and  California  stand  next  to  New  York 
in  successful  management  of  this  fund  ;  then  come 
Minnesota,  Iowa,  Michigan  and  Florida. 

Colorado  has  sold  but  little  of  the  90,000  acres 
assigned  to  that  State,  the  amount  sold  realizing  less 
than  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre,  but  in  the  above 
statement  the  whole  amount  is  estimated  at  that  sum, 
or  $112,500.00. 

Michigan  has  realized  $357,619.20  in  money,  on 
which  it  pays  seven  per  cent.  It  has  also  "  unpaid 
balances"  on  contracts  for  sale  of  land,  amount  not 
stated,  from  which  it  received  and  paid  to  the  bene- 
ficiary $6,771.37,  as  interest  in  1890.  It  also  has 
$114,094  61-100  acres  of  land  still  unsold.  It  is  en- 
tirely probable  that  the  above  estimate  of  $600,000.00 


XX 


for  the  State  of  Michigan,  will  prove  to  be  altogether 
too  small. 

The  fund  in  Kentucky  consists  of  $165,000.00 
cash  and  some  real  estate  which  it  is  safe  to  estimate 
at  $35,000.00,  making  the  total  in  that  State 
$200,000.00. 

No  statistical  information  has  been  received  from 
Louisiana,  except  that  the  fund  produced  an  income 
of  $14,555.65.  No  rate  of  interest  was  given,  but, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  State  was  entitled  to 
scrip  representing  210,000  acres,  it  is  safe  to  estimate 
that  at  least  a  dollar  an  acre  was  realized  therefrom, 
making  the  total  fund  in  that  State  $2 10, coo.  This 
sum  at  seven  per  cent,  would  produce  about  the  in- 
come reported. 

The  name  of  the  beneficiary  in  each  State 
together  with  much  other  valuable  information,  will 
be  found  in  each  of  the  respective  communications 
received. 

Those  who  may  find  anything  of  interest  in  this 
little  volume,  will  readily  appreciate  how  much  they 
are  indebted  to  the  correspondents  who  have  furnish- 
ed the  information  to  be  found  in  the  succeeding  pages. 
I  desire  also  to  add  my  personal  acknowledgment  for 
the  aid  and  assistance  they  have  so  freely  and  gratu- 
itously rendered. 

S.  D.  HAL  LI  DAY. 
Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  :\Iarch,  1890. 


ANSWERS  TO  CIRCULAR  LETTERS. 

[state  SEAL.]  STATE  OF  ARKANSAS. 

EXECUTIVE   OFFICE, 

J.\MEsP.  Eagle,  Governor.  Little  Rock, 

JOHX  C.  Engl.-vnid,  Private  Secretarv. 

C.  W.  WALKKK,  Clerk.  '  Dec.  19,   1S89. 

Messrs.  Halliday  &  Finch,  Attorneys  at  Law,  22 
E.  State  Street,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  comnumication  of  the  12th 
of  September,  addressed  to  the  Treasurer  of  the 
State  has  been  referred  to  me.  Replying-,  I  would 
say  that  there  has  been  no  judicial  determination  or 
construction  by  our  Courts  of  the  Act  of  Congress, 
donating  public  lands  to  the  several  states  and  terri- 
tories which  may  provide  Colleges  for  the  benefit  of 
Agriculture  and  the  ]\Iechanic  Arts. 

To  second  interrogatory — The  Arkansas  Indus- 
trial University,  is  the  beneficiary.  Under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Acts  of  Congress  of  1862,  the  State  of 
Arkansas  received  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
acres  of  Land  Scrip  which  was  sold  to  G.  F.  Lewis 
representing  the  Ohio  Land  Company  for  90  cts,  per 
acre.  The  amount  recei\'ed  in  currenc)-  for  said 
Scrip,  was  $135,000. 

Washington  County  voted  an  appropriation  of 
$100,000  eight  per  cent,  bonds.  Conditioned  that  the 
Universitv  be  located  in   said    Countv.      The  Citv  of 


Fayetteville,  (in  said  County,)  voted  an  appropria- 
tion of  $30,000  eight  per  cent,  bonds.  Conditioned 
that  the  University  be  located  in  or  near  said  city. 
Both  County  and  City  bonds  mature  in  1902. 

The  Board  of  Trustees  made  repeated  efforts  to 
sell  the  Washington  County  and  the  City  of  Fayette- 
ville eight  per  cent,  bonds,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting 
the  University  building,  but  not  being  able  to  effect 
a  sale  of  said  bonds,  they  substituted  the  permanent 
School  fund  as  a  building  fund  for  Washington 
County  and  City  of  Fayetteville  bonds,  as  ninety- 
three  and  one-third  cents  on  the  dollar.  The  fonner 
was  used  for  purchasing  grounds  and  erecting  the 
University  buildings,  while  the  latter  is  now  held 
and  owned  by  the  State  of  Arkansas  as  a  permanent 
fund,  the  annual  interest  only  to  be  used  for  current 
expenses  of  the  University. 

There  is  therefore,  held  by  the  State,  a  perma- 
nent fund  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  dollars 
in  Washington  County  and  City  of  Fayetteville 
bonds,  which  yields  an  annual  interest,  payable  Jan- 
uary and  July  of  each  year,  aggregating  $10,400. 
The  State  is  the  custodian  of  said  funds,  and  has  not 
parted  with  the  custody  of  the  same. 

Respectfully, 

JAMES  P.  EAGLE,  Gov., 

By  W^ALKER,  Clerk. 


Office  of 
E.  T.  Glenn,  Treasurer. 

ALABAMA  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE. 

A.  AND  M.  Collp:ge. 

Auburn,  Ala.,  Sept.  23d,  1889. 

Messrs.  Hallidav  &  Finch,  Attorneys  for  Cornell 
University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Sirs. — In  answer  to  your  questions  respecting 
the  Agricultural  College  fund  which  has  been  referred 
to  me,  I  will  say 

First — No  Judicial  determination  of  the  ques- 
tion has  ever  been  made  in  our  State. 

Second — The  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege at  Auburn,  i\labania. 

Third— The  State  pays  the  full  amount  of  the 
income  to  the  College. 

Fourth — Nothing  is  witheld  for  the  management 
of  the  fund. 

Fifth — In  State  bonds  bearing  eight  per  cent, 
interest. 

Sixth — Our  bonds  are  in  the  custody  of  the  State 
Treasurer,  and  have  been  all  the  time. 

Seventh— $253,500. 

Respectfully, 
E.  T.  GLENN,  Treasurer, 

A.  and  M.  College  of  Alabama. 


4 
STATE  OF  MAINE, 

treasurer's  office, 

Augusta,  Oct.  29,  1889. 

:\IESSRS.  Halliday  &  FixcH,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — In  replying  to  your  letter,  dated 
Sept.  i2th,  I  will  answer  your  inquiries  in  the  follow- 
ing order  : 

First — There  has  never  been  a  Judicial  determin- 
ation or  construction  of  said  Act  of  Congress  in  this 
State. 

Second — State  College  of  Agriculture  and  Me- 
chanic Arts  located  at  Orono,  Penobscot  County. 

Third — State  pays  the  full  five  per  cent,  to  the 
beneficiary. 

Fourth — No  expenses  for  management,  etc.,  are 
paid  from  the  general  fund. 

Fifth — The  State  has  given  one  five  per  cent, 
bond,  payable  in  thirty  years  for  the  full  amount, 
dated  June  ist,  1889. 

Sixth — The  State  has  never  parted  with  the  cus- 
tody of  this  fund. 

Seventh — One  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand, 
three  hundred  dollars,  is  the  amount  of  the  bond 
given,  and  cover  the  amount  of  this  fund. 

Very  truly  yours, 

GEO.  L.  BEAL, 

Treasurer  of  Maine. 


AUDITOR'S  OFFICE, 

AND    SUPERINTF.XDKNT   OF    INSURANCE. 

L.  B.  ScHWANBECK.  Auditor.  STATE  OF  COLORADO, 

Geo.  !\I.  HasKiNS,  Deputy  Auditor. 

N.  s.  HuRD,  Dep.  Supt.  of  Insurance.    Denver   Dec.  12    iSSq. 

Messrs.  Halliday  &  Finch,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  letter  of  Oct.  26th,  was  re- 
ferred to  me  by  the  State  Treasurer,  about  ten  clays 
ago,  and  have  experienced  some  difficult)'  in  getting 
the  information  required,  as  none  of  the  departments 
knew  very  imicli  about  the  history  of  the  grant,  with- 
out referring  to  records. 

First — There  has  been  no  Judicial  determination 
or  construction  of  said  rVct  of  Congress  in  our  State. 

Second — The  sole  beneficiary  of  the  90,000  acre 
grant,  is  the  Agricultural  College,  located  at  Fort 
Collins. 

Third — The  State  pays  the  total  income  from 
leasing  of  land  to  the  beneficiary.  The  total  receipts 
since  March,  '86,  has  been  $4,265.45  to  the  Income 
Fund.  The  receipts  from  the  beginning  of  sales  of 
land,  Feb.  1887,  for  the  credit  of  the  Permanent  Fund, 
amount  to  $14,829.74  and  have  never  been  invested. 
Law  authorizes  the  Treasurer  to  invest  in  interest 
bearing  warrants  of  the  State  which  draw  six  per 
cent,  per  annum. 

There  has  been  no  moneys  paid  on  account  of 
the  grant  other  than  the  Income  Fund  above  men- 
tioned, but  there  is  a  levy  of  one  fifth  mill  each  year 
for  the  running  expenses  of  the  institution  and  appro- 
priations for  building  purposes. 

Fourth — The  State  pays  out  of  its  general  fund 
all  the  expenses. 


Fifth — Not  invested  as  yet,  but  will  probably  be 
State  Warrants. 

Sixth— No. 

Seventh— $14,829.74. 

Out  of  the  90,000  acres,  there  has  been  "confirm- 
ed" 67,557  acres,  and  about  12,000  acres  sold. 

I  think  I  have  faithfully  earned  $5  and  the  re- 
port of  the  determination  of  the  Court  in  the  action, 
provided  you  have  it  printed.     Yours  truly, 

HARRY  TARBELL, 

Deputy  State  Auditor. 


STATE  OF  ILLINOIS, 

secretary's  office, 

Springfield,  Jan.  13,  1890. 

Messrs.  Halliday  &  Finch,  22  East  State  Street, 
Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  letter  of  the  loth  inst.  to 
the  Governor  of  this  vState  has  been  referred  to  me 
for  reply.  Replying  to  your  circular  letter  of  Sept. 
i2th  1889,  accompanying  ^'our  letter  and  answering 
your  inquiries  categorically,  the  following  informa- 
tion is  as  nearly  correct  as  I  am  able  to  give  you  con- 
cerning the  disposition  of  lands  donated  by  Congress 
and  allotted  to  the  State  of  Illinois  for  the  benefit  of 
"Agricultural  Colleges"  under  the  act  of  1862. 

First — There  has  been  no  judicial  determination 


or  construction  of  said  Act  of  Congress  in  the  Courts 
of  this  Slate. 

Second — The  beneficiary  of  the  donation  in  the 
State  of  Illinois  as  originally  named  in  the  act  of 
location  and  establishment,  Feb.  28,  1867,  was  the 
"Illinois  Industrial  University."  In  1885  the  name 
was  changed  to  the  '"University  of  Illinois"  which  is 
now  the  name,  and  the  University  is  located  at 
Champaign,  Champaign  County. 

Third — By  the  terms  of  the  act  incorporating 
the  University  the  State  transferred  by  assignment 
all  its  rights,  title  and  interest  in  and  to  the  land- 
scrip  issued  by  the  general  government  to  the  State, 
vested  the  absolute  title  in  the  University,  and  absolv- 
ed itself  from  any  furtlier  liability  on  account  of  the 
donation  of  land  or  to  the  University.  The  trustees 
of  the  University  were  authorized  to  sell  the  scrip 
and  transfer  it  by  assignment  or  to  locate  the  same  on 
public  lands  in  any  state  and  to  receive  patent  there- 
for. All  of  the  Scrip  except  25,000  acres  which  was 
located  was  sold  and  the  proceeds  invested  in  interest 
bearing  securities  for  the  benefit   of  the  University. 

Fourth — The  University,  and  not  the  State  is  the 
possessor  of  the  endowment  fund  created  by  the 
donation  of  land  by  Congress,  and  is  in  the  exclusive 
enjoyment  of  the  income  therefrom.  Until  the  year 
1877  no  appropriation  had  been  made  directly  from 
the  State  treasury  to  the  University  on  any  account, 
except  for  the  erection  or  completion  of  new  build- 
ings. In  1877,  appropriations  were  made  for  the 
taxes  on  lands  in  other  States  for  repairs  and  im- 
provements, for  the  chemical  laboratory  and  for  instruc- 
tion in  the  mechanical  department,  but  none  for  ex- 
penses in  the  instruction  department.  These  appro- 
priations have  been  since  continued  for  these  purpos- 


8 


es,  and  in  1881  was  added  to  those  items  one  of 
$5,700  for  instruction,  (salaries  of  professors  and 
teachers,)  which  has  been  increased  from  time  to  time. 
These  appropriations  have  not  been  made  in  recog- 
nition of  any  legal  claim,  demand,  or  obligation  on 
the  part  of  the  State,  but  simply  as  a  matter  of  State 
pride  in  aid  of  the  University. 

Fifth — The  endowment  fund  is  vested  mainly  in 
municipal  bonds  of  the  State  of  Illinois  and  interest 
bearing  contracts  for  balance  of  purchase  money  on 
lands. 

Sixth — The  State  has  parted  with  all  the  princi- 
pal fund  to  the  beneficiary.  (See  answer  to  fourth 
inquiry.) 

Seventh — The  principal  of  the  endowment  fund 
is  about  $450,000. 

I  take  pleasure  in  handing  you  this  information, 
and,  in  return,  will  you  please  advise  this  office  of 
the  decision  in  the  Cornell  University  case  when 
determined. 

Very  Respectfully, 

I.  N.  PEARSON, 
Secretarv  of  State. 


9 
STATE  OF  OREGON, 
treasurer's  office, 

Salem,  Sept.  25,  1889. 
Messrs.  Hallidav  &  Fin'CH,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  circular  letter  of  the  12th 
is  at  hand.  Your  inquiries  will  be  answered  in  the 
order  they  appear  in  your  letter. 

First — No.  But  a  case  is  now  pending  in  our 
courts,  between  the  Corvallis  College,  an  institution 
under  the  management  of  the  M.  E.  Church  South, 
and  the  State,  over  the  management  of  this  fund  or 
rather  of  the  school  which  it  supports.  The  Supreme 
Court  has  rendered  one  decision  recently,  principally 
on  construction  of  State  statutes. 

Second — Corvallis  College  originalh'.  The 
State  now  seeks  to  oust  this  corporation  and  assume 
the  management  itself. 

Third— It  does  not. 

Fourth — Yes,  to  second  part  of  inquiry. 

Fifth — The  fund  is  loaned  by  a  board  consisting 
of  Governor,  Secretary  of  State  and  Treasurer  at  eight 
per  cent,  on  real  estate  security,  one-third  of  appraised 
value  being  loaned. 

Sixth— No. 

Seventh — $93,985  in  January  last. 

Yours  respectfully, 

G.  W.  WEBB, 

Treasurer. 


[state  seal.]  treasury  derartmext, 

STATE  OF  TEXAS, 

F.  R.  Lubbock,  Treasurer. 

Austin,  Sept.  24tli,  1889. 

Messrs.  Halliday  &  Finch,  Ithaca,  New  York. 

Dear  Sirs. — Replying  to  your  circular  letter 
making  inquiry  concerning  the  disposition  made  by 
the  State  of  Texas  of  the  land  scrip  granted  by  Con- 
gress to  the  several  States,  will  say  the  scrip  received 
by  Texas  was  sold  and  the  proceeds  invested  in  a 
Permanent  Fund,  the  interest  on  which  is  annually 
appropriate  to  the  support  of  the  "x-lgricultural  and 
Mechanical  College  of  Texas." 

This  Permanent  Fund  consists  of  $174,000.00 
per  cent.  State  Bonds,  and  35,000.00  six  per  cent. 
State  Bonds,  and  yields  an  annual  income  of  $14,- 
280.00.  The  Bonds  are  on  deposit  in  this  department 
and  the  annual  interest  disbursed  by  the  State  Officers 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  College  Fund.  No  expense 
whatever  is  incurred  or  attaches  to  the  handling  of 
the  Fund. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  "Judicial  determination  or 
construction"  of  the  Act  of  Congress  making  the 
donation — the  matter  having  been  handled  and  man- 
aged by  the  officers  according  to  Legislature  direction. 
I  mail  you  to-day  the  last  report  of  the  A.  and 
M.  College,  which  may  affiDrd  you  some  information. 
Respectfully, 

F.  R.  LUBBOCK, 

Treasurer. 


Catalogue  of  thk 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College 

OF  Texas. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

Permanent  Fund 

In  November,  1871,  the  Legislature  formally  ac- 
cepted from  Congress  the  gift  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  acres  of  public  land  for  the  endow- 
ment of  an  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College. 
This  land  was  sold  for  $174,000,  which  sum  was  in- 
vested in  seven  per  cent.  State  Bonds.  As  under  the 
Act  of  Congress  neither  principal  nor  interest  of  this 
money  could  be  used  for  other  purposes  thau  the  pay- 
ment of  officers'  salaries,  at  time  of  the  opening  of 
the  College  there  was  an  addition  to  the  Fund,  from 
an  accumulation  of  interest,  of  $35,000.  This  was 
invested  in  six  per  cent,  bonds  of  the  State,  thus 
furnishing  an  annual  income  of  $14,280. 


THE  STATE  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE, 

OFFICE   OF   STATE   TREASURER. 

Concord,  Sept.  17,  1889. 

Messrs.  Hallidav  cS:  Finch,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gents. — In  reply  to  your  circular  of  i2t]i  inst., 
would  sav,  that  I  am  not  aware  that  there  ha\e  been 


any  decisions  of  the  questions  raised  by  the  courts  of 

N.  H. 

The  proceeds  of  the  land  scrip  were  invested  in 
bonds  of  the  State  of  N.  H.,  $80,000,  and  in  1884  or 
1885  the  bonds  matured  and  by  an  Act  of  the  Legis- 
lature the  bonds  were  cancelled  and  an  Agricultural 
College  Fund  created  of  same  amount  on  which  the 
State  6  per  cent,  to  the  institution,  the  principal  be- 
ing treated  as  a  trust  fund  and  a  liability  of  the  State. 

The  N.  H.  College  of  Agriculture  and  the  Me- 
chanic Arts,  is  connected  in  some  degree  with  Dart- 
mouth College,  and  has  been  from  its  inception. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

SOLON  A.  CARTER, 

State  Treasurer. 


STATE  OF  RHODE  ISLAND, 

OFFICE   COMMISSIONER   PUBLIC   SCHOOLS. 

Providence,  Oct.  31,  18S9. 

Messrs.  Halliday  &  Finch, 

Gentlemen. — Your  communication  of  Sept. 
1 2th  and  the  26th  inst.  to  General  Treasurer  Clark, 
have  been  by  him  turned  over  to  me  with  the  request 
that  I  answer  them. 


13 


I  have  the  honor  to  forward  herewitli,  copies  of 
the  Acts  and  Resolves  of  the  General  Assembly  for 
1853  and  4,  which  contain  the  original  Legislation, 
making  Brown  University  the  beneficiary  of  the  Sta'e 
under  the  Act  of  Congress  and  also  an  account  of 
the  earlier  steps  taken  to  locate  the  lands.  I  also 
enclose  copy  of  a  subsequent  resolution,  defining  the 
scope  and  intent  of  the  original. 

The  history  of  the  fund  through  the  subsequent 
years  is  not  easily  traced,  for  the  reason  that  the 
annual  reports  made  by  the  Unixersity  to  the  Assem- 
bly, as  required  by  law,  were  not  always  printed  and 
hence  do  not  appear  in  the  yearly  schedules.  The 
first  one,  which  gives  the  detailed  account  of  the 
location  of  land  and  their  conversion  into  funds  is 
not  to  be  found  in  print. 

Then  in  1870  or  1871,  there  was  some  contention 
over  the  matter,  and  a  joint  special  committee  was 
appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  to  investigate 
the  whole  matter,  and  they  did  so  and  reported  the 
following  year  ;  but  there  are  no  copies  to  be  had 
in  print,  of  their  report. 

I  think  the  documents  sent  with  what  I  have 
written,  will  enable  you  to  answer  your  queries,  but 
if  you  wish  for  a  full  transcript  of  the  reports  above 
alluded  to  in  addition,  I  can  get  them  copied  for  you 
if  you  will  pay  the  cost.  I  am  not  positive  as  to  the 
amount  obtained  for  the  lands,  but  I  think  it  was 
only  $50,000. 

As  to  the  first  question  on  your  circular,  I  would 
say  that  there  has  never  been  any  judicial  construc- 
tion of  the  matter  by  our  courts  so  far  as  I  can  dis- 
cover.     I    also   send    copy    of  the   last   catalogue   of 


H 

Brown  University  from  which  you  may  derive  a  little 
light. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

THOS.  B.  STOCKWELL, 

Commissioner. 


Resolution  explanatory  of  the  stipulation  contain- 
ed in  a  resolution  passed  by  the  General  Assembly, 
January,  1863,  assigning  certain  land  scrip  to  Brown 
University  : 

Resolved^  That  the  second  article  in  the  stipula- 
tion in  the  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly,  passed 
at  the  January  session,  A.  D.,  1863,  "assigning  to 
Brown  University  the  land  scrip  granted  by  the  Unit- 
ed States  to  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  our  Agricultural  College,"  was  intended 
to  authorize,  and  shall  be  so  construed  and  understood, 
as  to  authorize  and  empower  the  corporation  of  Brown 
University,  its  agents  and  assign,  to  sell  or  dispose  of 
the  land  scrip  in  said  resolution  described,  and  any 
part  thereof,  as  well  as  to  locate  the  same  and  parts 
thereof,  as  in  said  second  article  authorized  and 
provided. 


RHODE  ISLAND. 

RESOLUTIONS   OF   A   PUBLIC   NATURE. 

Resolutions  assigning  to  Brown  Universit}-,    the 
land  scrip  granted  by   the   United  States  to  the  State 


15 


of  Rhode  Island,  for  the  establishment  of  an  Aj^ricnl- 
tural  College  : 

Rcsolz'ed,  That  His  Excellency  the  Governor  be, 
and  he  hereby  is,  authorized  and  appointed  on  the 
part  of  the  State,  to  transfer,  assign,  and  set  over  to 
the  Corporation  of  Brown  University,  in  the  city  of 
Providence,  the  scrip  now  in  the  possession  of  the 
Governor,  or  which  may  hereafter  come  into  his  pos- 
session from  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
under  and  by  virtue  of  a  Resolution  passed  by  this 
General  Assembly,  at  its  present  session,  upon  receiv- 
ing from  the  said  Corporation  or  its  duly  authorized 
agent,  the  following  stipulations  ;  which  stipulations 
shall  be  as  and  for  a  perpetual  agreement,  by  and  be- 
tween said  Corporation  and  State  as  aforesaid,  and 
shall  be  in  form  substantially  as  follows,  that  is  to  say  : 

SAID   CORPORATIOX    DOES    HKREBY    AGREE 

1.  To  provide  a  College  or  Department  in  said 
University,  the  leading  object  whereof  shall  be,  with- 
out, excluding  other  scientific  and  classic  studies,  and 
including  military  tactics,  to  teach  such  branches  of 
learning  as  are  related  to  Agriculture  and  the  Me- 
chanic Arts,  in  such  n:anner  as  hereinafter  stated,  in 
order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical  education 
of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and 
professions  of  life. 

2.  To  locate  without  unnecessary  delay,  and  at 
their  best  discretion,  the  said  scrip  upon  some  of  the 
public  lands  of  the  United  States,  properly  open  to 
be  located  upon,  and  from  time  to  time  to  sell  and 
dispose  of  the  lands  so  to  be  located  upon,  so  that  tl'.e 
largest  price  can  be  obtained  for  the  same. 


i6 


3.  To  invest  and  to  keep  invested  the  proceeds  of 
the  said  sales  in  stocks  or  securities  of  the  United 
States  or  of  this  State  ;  but  if  this  should  be  imprac- 
ticable, so  that  an  income  therefrom  of  at  least  five 
per  centum  per  annum  upon  their  par  value  could 
not  be  realized,  then  to  invest  such  proceeds  in  some 
other  safe  stocks,  (the  safety  of  which  other  stocks 
the  University  shall  guarantee,)  upon  which  an  in- 
come of  at  least  five  per  centum,  as  aforesaid,  can  be 
realized. 

4,  To  pay  all  expenses  of  locating  and  selling 
said  lands,  and  all  taxes  which  may  be  assessed  there- 
on, or  upon  the  proceeds  thereof. 

5,  To  apply  faithfully  the  income  arising  from  the 
avails  of  the  sales  of  said  lands  in  endowing,  main- 
taining and  supporting  a  College  in  said  University 
as  aforesaid,  for  the  objects  as  aforesaid,  so  that  no 
portion  of  said  proceeds  or  income  therefrom  shall 
be  used  in  the  erection,  preservation,  purchase  or  re- 
pairing of  any  building  or  buildings,  for  the  College, 
or  other  purposes  ;  provided^  hozvever^  that  a  portion 
of  said  proceed  of  said  sales,  not  exceeding  one-tenth 
part  thereof,  may,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Corporation, 
be  expended  according  to  said  Act  of  Congress,  in 
the  purchase  of  lands  for  sites,  or  an  experimental 
farm,  whenever  said  Corporation  shall  so  determine. 

6.  To  educate  scholars,  each  at  the  rate  of  one 
hundred  dollars  per  annum,  to  the  extent  of  the  en- 
tire annual  income  from  said  proceeds,  subject  to  the 
proviso  as  aforesaid  ;  the  Governor  and  Secretary  of 
State,  to  have  the  right  on  or  before  Commencement 
Day  of  each  year,  and  in  conjunction  with  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  University,  to  nominate  candidates  for 
vacancies  occurring  in  said  College  or  Department  as 


17 


aforesaid,  at  the  beginning  of  each  Collegiate  year  ; 
and  students  admitted  to  said  College,  and  pursuing 
studies  therein  by  virtue  of  said  fund,  are  not  to  be 
excluded  from  the  regular  scientific  and  classic  studies 
of  said  University,  and  are  to  be  subject  to  the  laws 
and  regulations  of  the  University,  in  entering  and 
remaining  thereat  ;  and  are  to  be  graduated  with  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Philosophy  or  Bachelor  of  Arts, 
or  are  to  receive  a  certificate  for  a  partial  course, 
according  as  the  case  ma\-  be. 

7.  To  assume  upon  itself  all  the  responsibilities 
and  duties  which  are  imposed  upon  the  State  by  the 
said  Act  of  Congress  ;  and  also  all  the  duties  imposed 
upon  Colleges  endowed  under  the  provisions  of  the 
said  act,  and  to  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  and 
immunities  conferred  thereby  upon  the  State,  and 
upon  institutions  endowed  thereunder. 

To  make  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  an  annual 
report,  a  copy  of  which  shall  be  communicated  to 
the  General  Assembly,  of  all  lands  located  and  sold, 
until  the  whole  is  disposed  of,  the  amount  received 
for  the  same  and  how  invested,  and  of  the  appropria- 
tions made  of  the  proceeds  therefrom,  and  stating  the 
number  of  the  students  to  whom  the  same  have  been 
applied,  and  of  all  other  matters  prescribed  by  said 
Act  of  Congress  as  aforesaid. 

Resolutions  accepting  the  grant  of  land,  made 
by  the  United  States  for  an  Agricultural  College  : 

Resolved^  The  Senate,  concurring  with  the 
House,  in  the  passage  hereof,  that  the  Genenil 
Assembly  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  does  hereby, 
express  its  acceptance  in  behalf  of  the  State,  of  the 
benefit  of  the  provisions  of  Chapter  CXXX,  of  the 
Statutes  of  the  United  States,  passed  at  the   Second 


i8 


Session  of  the  Thirt}' -seventh  Congress,  and  approv- 
ed July  2d,  A.  D.  1862,  donating  public  lands  to  the 
several  States  and  Territories,  which  may  provide 
Colleges  for  the  benefit  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic 
Arts,  upon  the  terms  and  conditions  in  the  said  act, 
contained  and  set  forth  ;  and  that  the  faith  of  the 
State  be,  and  is  hereby  pledged  to  the  United  States 
that,  upon  the  receipt  of  the  scrip  provided  to  be 
issued  under  the  said  Act  of  Congress,  it  will  faith- 
fully apply  the  proceeds  thereof  to  the  objects,  and 
in  the  manner  prescribed  by  this  act. 

Resolved^  That  His  Excellency  the  Governor  be, 
and  he  hereby  is,  requested  no  notify  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  without  delay,  of  the  accepting 
by  the  Legislature  of  this  State  of  the  donation  of 
scrip  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  acres  of 
the  public  lands  of  the  United  States,  (that  quantity 
being  thirty  thousand  acres  for  each  Senator  and 
Representative  in  Congress  from  this  State,)  made  by 
the  provisions  of  Chapter  CXXX,  of  the  Statutes  of 
the  United  States,  approved  July  2d,  1862,  donating 
public  lands  to  the  several  States  and  Territories, 
which  may  provide  Colleges  for  the  benefit  of  Agri- 
culture and  the  Mechanic  Arts,  upon  the  terms  and 
conditions  in  the  said  act  contained  and  set  forth,  and 
to  furnish  at  the  same  time  a  copy  of  said  notification 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Resolved^  That  His  Excellency  the  Governor  be, 
and  he  hereby  is,  fully  authorized  and  empowered  by 
himself  or  his  order,  to  receive  from  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  or  any  other  person  authorized  to  issue 
the  same,  the  land  scrip  to  which  this  State  is  entitl- 
ed, under  the  provisions  of  Chapter  CXXX,  of  the 
Statutes  of  the  United    States,    passed  at   the  second 


19 


Session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  and  approv- 
ed July  2d,  A.  D.  1S62,  donating  public  lands  to  the 
several  States  and  Territories,  which  may  provide 
Colleges  for  the  benefit  of  Agricnllure  and  the  Me- 
chanic Arts,  and  to  hold  the  said  scrip  subject  to  the 
future  order  of  this  General  Assenibh-. 


Brown  University  Catalogue. 

Departments  of  Practical  Science  have  been  es- 
tablished in  the  University  for  the  benefit  of  students 
who  wish  to  prepare  themselves  for  such  pursuits  as 
require  special  knowledge  of  the  mathematical  and 
physical  sciences  and  the  application  of  these  to  the 
industrial  arts. 

In  these  departments  provision  has  also  been 
made  for  sources  of  instruction  in  "such  branches  of 
learning  as  are  related  to  Agriculture  and  the  Mechan- 
ic Arts."  This  provision  has  been  made  in  accord- 
ance with  an  "Act  of  Congress  granting  lands  for 
the  establishment  of  Agricultural  Colleges,"  and 
with  "Resolutions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Rhode  Island  accepting  these  lands,  and  as- 
signing the  same  to  Brown  University."  Students  who 
enter  for  these  studiesonly,  either  in  full  orin  part,  are 
subject  to  the  same  conditions  of  admission  as  for  any 
select  course  ;  and  when  they  have  duly  pursued  such 
studies,  they  will  be  entitled  to  a  certificate  staling 
the  time  of  their  residence  at  the  University,  and  the 
amount  of  their  acquisitions.  They  may,  however, 
pursue  these  studies  in  connection  with  the  "regular 


scientific  and  classical  studies  of  the  University," 
and  when  they  have  so  pursued  them  as  to  fulfill  the 
requirements  for  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  or 
of  Bachelor  of  Philosophy,  they  will  be  entitled  to 
such  desfree. 


Report  of  the  Corporation  of  Brown  Univer- 
sity relative  to  the  lands  granted  by  the  United 
States  to  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  Agricultural  College. 

To  His  Excellency  James  Y.  Smith,  Governor  of 
the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  etc. 

The  Corporation  of  Brown  University  respect- 
fully j)resent  this,  their  first  Annual  Report,  in  con- 
formity with  the  Eighth  Section  of  the  Agreement 
in  the  resolution  "Assigning  to  Brown  University  the 
Land  Scrip  granted  by  the  United  States  to  the  State 
of  Rhode  Island  for  the  establishment  of  an  Agricul- 
tural College,"  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  at 
the  January  Session,  1863, 

By  the  said  Section,  the  Corporation  is  "to  make 
to  the  Governor  of  the  State  an  annual  report,  a  copy 
of  which  shall  be  communicated  to  the  General  As- 
sembly, of  all  lands  located  and  sold,  until  the  whole 
is  disposed  of,  the  amount  received  for  the  same  and 
how  invested,  and  of  the  appropriations  made  of  the 
proceeds  therefrom,  and  stating  the  number  of  stu- 


dents  to  whom  the  same  have  been  applied,  and  of 
all  other  matters  prescribed  by  said  Act  of  Congress." 

This  report  will  be  confined  to  the  snbject  of 
location  of  lands,  because  the  Corporation  have  as 
yet  made  no  advance  beyond  that  fundamental  pre- 
liminary. 

The  "  Act  donating  public  lands  to  the  several 
States  and  Territories  which  may  provide  Colleges 
for  the  benefit  of  Agriculture  and  the  ]\Iechanic  Arts," 
was  approved  July  2,  1862. 

Its  second  section  provides  that  no  location  shall 
be  made  before  one  year  from  the  passage  of  the  Act. 

The  second  day  of  July,  1863,  was  therefore  the 
earliest  day  on  which  a  location  of  lands  could  be 
made. 

Rhode  Island  was  the  first  State  having  no  Public 
Lands  within  its  limits,  which  accepted  the  grant  of 
land  made  by  the  United  States  ;  it  accepted  it  at  the 
January  Session,  1863,  and  on  the  23d  day  of  said 
January  assigned  the  same  to  Brown  University. 

The  Governor  of  the  State,  (then  Governor 
Sprague,)  and  the  Corporation  of  the  University,  be- 
lieving it  essential  to  the  value  of  the  grant  that  no 
ofiicial  inaction  or  other  hindrances  should  prevent 
the  earliest  possible  location  of  the  lands  for  Rhode 
Island,  induced  the  Hon.  John  R.  Bartlett,  Secretary 
of  State  of  R.  I.,  in  behalf  of  the  State,  and  Horace 
Love,  agent  of  the  University,  (selected  as  well  for 
his  intelligence  and  interest  in  the  subject,  as  for  his 
experience  in  the  business  of  Public  Land  offices,)  to 
visit  Washington  immediately,  to  represent  the  in- 
terests involved. 

Within  two  hours  after  the  passage  of  the   Reso- 


22 


lution  of  Assignments,  they  departed,  with  authenti- 
cated papers,  to  communicate  the  action  of  the  State 
of  Rhode  Island,  and  of  the  University,  to  the  De- 
partment of  the  Interior,  and  to  negotiate  for  the 
timely  preparation  of  such  official  regulations,  forms 
and  documents  as  the  Department  would  adopt,  and 
prescribe  to  govern  the  selection  and  location  of  lands 
under  the  Act  of  Congress. 

After  a  satisfactory  interview  with  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  the  Hon.  John  P.  Usher,  he  referred 
them  to  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office, 
the  Hon.  J.  M.  Edmunds,  to  whose  office  the  details 
of  the  business  belong. 

After  a  full  hearing  and  free  interchange  of  views 
as  to  the  United  States  grant,  and  proceedings  under 
it,  the  Commissioner  stated  that  the  subject  was  yet 
new — that  he  was  not  then  prepared  to  issue  the 
Scrip,  (which  is  the  official  evidence  of  the  right  to 
enter  lands  at  the  land  offices,)  previous  to  which  he 
should  need  some  time  to  (as  he  said,)  "eliminate" 
the  Act  of  Congress  ;  that  this  application  was  the 
first,  would  be  entitled  to  the  first  issue,  and  it  should 
be  made  in  a  few  weeks. 

The  Secretary  of  State  then  returned  to  Rhode 
Island,  leaving  the  agent  of  the  University  to  expedite, 
if  possible,  the  issue  of  the  Scrip,  and  to  return  with 
it.  The  agent  was  unsuccessful  ;  and  between  Janu- 
ary and  May  he  made  two  other  unsuccessful  journeys 
to  Washington,  unable  to  procure  from  the  Commis- 
sioner any  thing  more  than  assurances  that  the  Scrip 
should  be  furnished  in  ample  time,  before  the  lands 
were  open  to  location.  He  wrote  twice  after  that  to 
the  Commissioner,  reminding  him  that  the  delay  was 
likely  to  be  very  injurious  to  the  interests  of  Rhode 
Island. 


23 


To  be  prepared  to  make  the  most  favorable  loca- 
tion, as  soon  as  the  time  should  arrive,  the  aj^ent  of 
the  University,  early  in  May,  was  despatched  to  Kan- 
sas, and  the  neighboring  region,  to  examine  lands 
and  records  in  land  offices. 

With  all  the  persistent  diligence  used,  the  Scrip 
not  being  procured  nor  issued  in  June,  the  Secretary 
then  again  went  to  Washington  to  endeavor  to  obtain 
it  ;  nearly  five  months  had  then  elapsed  since  the 
first  application  to  the  Commissioner,  and  his  assur- 
ance that  it  should  be  issued  in  a  few  weeks. 

The  Commissioner  made  various  excuses  for  the 
delay  but  continued  to  promise  that  it  should  be  issu- 
ed in  time  to  be  sent  to  Kansas  before  the  2d  day  of 
July. 

Senator  Anthony  also  wrote  to  hasten  its  issue, 
as  afterwards  did  Governor  Smith. 

With  all  the  diligence  and  pressure  applied  by 
Secretary  Bartlett,  by  the  agent  of  the  University,  by 
Senator  Anthony,  and  by  Governor  Smith,  the  Scrip 
was  not  received  by  the  Secretary,  in  Providence, 
until  the  12th  of  August,  dated  Washington  August 
7th. 

The  President  of  the  University,  who  was  author- 
ized to  locate  the  lands,  having  waited  in  vain  for 
the  Scrip  until  the  22d  day  of  June,  provided  himself 
with  certified  copies  of  the  Acts  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, and  of  the  Corporation  in  relation  to  the  land 
grant,  and  proceeded  to  Kansas,  fearing  the  conse- 
quences of  longer  delay,  and  hoping  the  Secretary 
would  receive  and  forward  the  Scrip  to  him  from 
Washington,  where  he  then  was. 

In  Kansas,    President  Sears  joined  the  agent   of 


24 


the  University,  who  had  been  a  month  there  examin- 
ing the  records  of  land  offices,  and  viewing  lands  for 
the  pnrpose  of  selections  ;  and  both  united  in  these 
investigations,  that  they  might  be  prepared  to  make 
locations  of  the  most  valuable  lands  on  the  2nd  day  of 
July  ;  daily  hoping  for  the  arrival  of  the  Scrip. 

At  nine  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  and  of 
July,  the  hour  at  which  the  land  office  was  opened, 
the  President  made  his  application,  and  filed  a  sched- 
ule of  his  locations  in  due  form  in  the  Register's 
office,  in  Atchison,  Kansas,  for  the  entry  of  26,080 
acres  of  land  for  the  University,  with  all  the  papers 
necessary,  except  the  Scrip,  which  though  applied 
for  in  January,  and  repeatedly  after,  and  as  repeated- 
ly promised  in  anticipation  of  this  day,  was  still  held 
back,  and  for  more  than  a  month  thereafter,  in  the 
Land  Office  in  Washington, 

The  entry  was  thus  formally  made  ;  and  on  the 
6th  of  July  another  entry  of  13,920  acres,  in  the  same 
office  ;  making  in  all,  40,000  acres  ;  and  the  legal 
entry  fees,  amounting  to  one  hundred  dollars,  paid, 
and  received  at  the  time  of  each  entry  by  the  Regis- 
ter and  Receiver. 

About  three  weeks  after  our  entries  were  made, 
one  claiming  to  be  agent  of  a  railroad  company, 
(called  the  Atchison  and  Pike's  Peak  Railroad  Com- 
pany,) and  professing  to  be  its  Engineer,  having 
made  a  flying  survey  of  about  one  hundred  miles, 
diagonally,  through  the  whole  extent  of  our  selection, 
drew  and  forwarded  a  plan,  or  survey,  to  be  filed  in 
the  General  Land  Office,  in  Washington. 

If  this  survey  is  established  it  takes  the  railroad 
track,  and  fifteen  miles,  as  we  are  informed,  on  each 
side  of  the  track,   through  the  land  selected  and   lo- 


25 


cated  by  us,  and  doubles  the  governuient  price  of 
public  lands  adjoining.  A  copy  of  this  survey  was 
sent  to  the  Atchison  Land  Office,  from  Washington, 
which  if  allowed  at  the  General  Land  Office,  authen- 
ticates, so  far  as  that  allowance  can,  the  supplanting 
appropriation  attempted  for  the  railroad  company. 

That  the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land 
Office  in  Washington  was  informed  of  the  proceed- 
ings, both  of  the  University  and  for  the  railroad  com- 
pany, appears  from  the  following  letter  of  the  Com- 
missioner, a  copy  of  which  is  on  file  in  the  Secretary's 
office  of  this  State,  and  is  as  follows  : 

General  Land  Office, 

August  13,  1863. 

Gentlemen. — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the 
3d  instant,  stating  that  Rev.  Barnas  Sears,  D.  D. , 
President  of  Brown  University,  Providence,  R.  I., 
was  at  "  your"  office,  on  the  2d  and  6th  days  of  July, 
ultimo,  and  having  given  "you"  satisfactory  evidence 
of  his  authority  to  locate  for  the  benefit  of  said  Uni- 
versity, the  120,000  acres  Land  Scrip  accruing  to  the 
State  of  Rhode  Island,  under  the  Act  of  Congress, 
approved  July  2d,  1862,  entitled  "  An  Act  donating 
public  lands  to  the  several  States  and  Territories 
which  may  provide  Colleges  for  the  benefit  of  Agri- 
culture and  the  Mechanic  Arts,"  he  had  selected  and 
designated  250  quarter  Sections  of  land  in  "your" 
District,  and  made  application  to  the  Register  to  lo- 
cate the  same  with  the  Scrip  aforesaid,  and  deposited 
with  the  Receiver  $1000  to  pay  the  fees  for  such 
location." 


26 


That  lie  had  "not  been  able  as  \'et  to  locate  the 
Scrip,  owing  to  the  delay  of  the  department  in  issu- 
ing the  same,  but  having  complied  with  requirements 
of  the  law  to  the  extent  of  his  ability,  he  claims  the 
land  which  he  has  thus  applied  to  locate  in  preference 
to  all  claims,  whether  of  Railroad  Co.,  or  other  parties 
made  since  the  date  of  said  application,"  and  that 
"believing  these  claims  to  just,  you  had  reserved  the 
lands  so  designated  by  President  Sears  from  location 
or  entry  by  other  parties." 

First — There  has  been  no  delay  whatever  in  the 
issue  of  the  Scrip  to  the  State  of  Rhode  Island — the 
law  interdicts  its  location  prior  to  2d  July,  1863 — ^"^ 
within  a  month  and  five  days  of  that  time,  and  as 
soon  as  the  printed  forms  and  records  were  furnished 
us,  the  whole  issue  to  which  Rhode  Island  was  en- 
titled, was  sent  to  that  State,  as  you  will  see  from 
the  enclosed  copy  of  our  letter  to  him  of  7th  ult. 

Second — On  the  iSthofJune,  1863,  this  office  sent 
you  the  circular — copy  herewith — which  is  accompan- 
ied by  a  copy  of  the  law,  which  requires  "said  Scrip 
to  be  sold  by  said  State,  etc,"  the  land  to  be  located 
by  the  assignees  of  the  State,  the  Scrip  having  on 
the  back  of  each  parcel  a  form  of  assignment. 

Third — Your  proceedings,  then,  in  receiving  an 
application  in  the  absence  of  the  Scrip,  duly  and  law- 
fully assigned,  and  your  reservation  of  the  250  quar- 
ter Sections  upon  the  unsupported  applications  referr- 
ed to,  unaccompanied  by  the  legal  tender,  (being  the 
assigned  Scrip,)  was  not  only  without  authority  but 
in  disregard  of  the  law. 

Fourth — Your  withdrawal  and  reservation  of  the 
250  quarter  Sections  being  unauthorized  and  illegal, 
will  not  operate  to  exclude  any  others,  and  hence  vou 


will  consider  the  lands  relieved  and  open  to  the  first 
legal  applicants  ;  embracing  of  conrse,  the  assignees 
of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  shonld  they  first  pre- 
sent themselves  with  written  applications  accom- 
panied with  Scrip  dnly  assigned. 

Yon  will  accordingly  so  notify  the  party  at  whose 
instance  you  made  the  reservation. 

Very  respectfully, 

signed,     J.  M.  EDWARDS, 

Commissioner. 

Register  and  Receiver,  Atchison,  Kansas. 

The  Act  of  Congress  was  approved  July  2,  1862, 
to  take  effect  July  2,  1863  ;  which  gave  a  year  to  the 
General  Land  Office  to  prepare  and  promulgate  its 
regulations,  instructions  and  the  forms  of  procedure 
under  the  act. 

The  General  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island  accepted 
the  Act  of  Congress,  and  assigned  its  interests  therein 
to  the  Corporation  of  Brown  University,  in  January, 
1S63;  notice  of  all  which  was  immediately  officially 
communicated  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  to 
the  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office,  in 
Washington,  and  duly  filed  in  that  office. 

This  State,  by  its  Secretary,  and  the  Universit\-, 
by  its  Agent,  both,  at  that  time,  made  personal  ap- 
plication to  the  Commissioner  in  Washington,  for  the 
Scrip,  (which  is  the  official  evidence  of  the  right  to 
locate  and  enter  lands,)  and  impressed  upon  him  the 
importance  of  their  early  possession  of  it. 

He  informed  them  that  preparation  had  not  been 
made  in  his  office,  up  to  that   time,  for  carrying  the 


28 


law  into  effect  ;  that  no  application  had  before  been 
made,  but  that  in  a  few  weeks  the  reqnired  papers 
should  be  issued  to  Rhode  Island  ;  this  was  more  than 
six  months  after  the  passage  of  the  law. 

Twice  between  that  time  and  Mas',  the  Agent  of 
the  University  was  especially  sent  to  Washington  to 
remind  the  Commissioner  of  his  assurances  and  to 
urge  his  issue  of  the  Scrip. 

The  delay  being  continued,  in  June  the  Secretary 
of  State  again  went  to  Washington  to  endeavor  to 
procure  it  or  to  hasten  its  issue,  but  was  obliged  to 
return  with  only  renewed  promises  that  it  should  soon 
be  forthcoming.  The  Commissioner  was  continually 
importuned,  by  personal  applications  and  official  let- 
ters, from  January  to  July  to  perform  the  duty,  which 
was  neglected  till  the  7th  of  August,  or,  as  he  says, 
for  "a  month  and  five  days,"  after  all  grace  had  ex- 
pired by  law  ;  and  yet  he  pronounces  that  our  loca- 
tion, made  with  every  requisite  except  that  which  he 
had  promised  and  failed  to  furnish,  knowing  its  im- 
portance, is  invalid  because  he  did  not  furnish  it  ! 
and  puts  it  in  writing  that  "  there  has  been  no  delay 
whatever  in  the  issue  of  the  Scrip  to  the  State  of  Rhode 
Island  P' 

If  there  was  not  delay,  and  delinquent  delay, 
some  new  term  must  be  invented  to  express  the  com- 
monly received  idea  of  it  ;  bnt  the  fact  can  hardly  be 
"eliminated,"  even  officially,   from  this  transaction. 

In  nullifying  the  location  for  Rhode  Island,  the 
Commissioner  in  his  missive  to  the  Atchison  Office, 
says,  that  "the  law  interdicts  its  location  prior  to  the 
2d  of  July,  1863,  and  within  a  month  and  five  days  of 
that  time,"  the  whole  issue  for  Rhode  Island  was 
furnished. 


29 


The  law  gave  the  right  to  parties  to  locate  on  the 
2d  of  July,  but  did  not  give  the  commission  the  right, 
which  he  has  arrogated,  to  "interdict"  or  obstruct 
the  operation  of  the  law  at  and  after  that  time,  and 
for  all  time,  according  to  his  ruling,  if  the  Scrip, 
from  negligence  or  design,  should  not  be  issued. 

To  associate  this  tardy  issue  with  the  exact  legal 
provision  of  location,  is  an  abortive  attempt  to  intro- 
duce it  into  good  society. 

Had  the  Scrip  been  issued  timely,  the  locations 
made  in  be  half  of  Rhode  Island  on  the  2d  and  6th 
of  July, — after  expensive  and  protracted  examina- 
tions, and  skillful  care  in  the  selections, — would  have 
been  unquestionable  and  fixed.  By  the  delay,  an  open- 
ing was  made  for  an  attempt  to  usurp  the  same  selec- 
tion for  a  Railroad  Company,  which  attempt  the  rul- 
ing of  the  Commissioner  sustains.  This  ruling  is 
apparently  sympathetic  and  cordial  towards  the  inter- 
est of  the  Railroad  Company,  in  its  drift  and  terms  ; 
and  in  its  tone  of  superb  reprobation  of  the  Register 
and  Receiver  of  Atchison,  who  it  charges  with  act- 
ing "not  only  without  authority,  but  in  disregard  of 
the  law,"  it  is  not  over  courteous  to  the  representa- 
tives of  Rhode  Island,  as  they  had  a  good  deal  to  do 
in  the  matter  which  so  excites  the  sensibilities  of  the 
Commissioner.  It  is  administered,  to,  with  a  heart- 
iness which  need  not  have  been  more  emphatic  if  a 
justifiable  design  of  his  office  had  thereby  been  frus- 
trated or  endangered. 

The  mischiefs  to  which  this  delay  exposes  Rhode 
Island  are  hardly  to  be  overestimated. 

The  lands  were  selected  with  great  deliberation, 
judgment  and  expense,  with  a  view  to  immediate 
sales  and  settlement.     Arrangement  had  been   made 


30 

for  their  speedy  colonization  by  New  England  settlers 
of  the  most  desirable  description.  These  objects  are 
indefinitely  postponed,  and  may  be  defeated  ;  an 
opening  is  made  for  damaging  competition  in  the 
sales  and  settlement  ;  all  the  advantages  of  the  early 
institution  of  the  Agricultural  College  balked  ;  the 
ultimate  advantages  and  beneficent  effects  of  the 
Congressional  grant  impaired  greatly,  if  not  anni- 
hilated. 

These  threatened  mischiefs,  and  especially  that 
their  efficient  cause  is  in  the  General  Land  Office,  the 
letter  of  the  Commissioner  grandly  ignores. 

The  Kansas  location  is,  however,  considered  to 
be  too  valuable  to  be  surrendered,  except  from 
necessity. 

When  the  Scrip  was  received  here  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  (on  the  I2tli  of  August,)  he  prepared 
and  forwarded  it  to  the  Land  Office,  in  Atchison,  to 
authenticate  the  locations  already  made,  or  to  apply 
to  a  re-location  of  the  same  lands  :  in  one  case  or  the 
other,  we  have  confidence  of  securing  the  locations, 
as  there  are  believed  to  be  defects  in  regard  to  the 
Railroad  Company  and  in  the  procedure,  which  will 
annul  any  acts  of  location  made  in  its  behalf. 

The  subject,  in  the  hands  of  our  able  delegation 
in  Congress,  will  be  sure  to  receive  the  attention  it 
deserves  ;  and  by  an  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the 
Commissioner  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  if  that 
shall  be  necessary,  or  by  any  other  expedient  course, 
the  important  interests  of  the  State  and  the  Univer- 
sity will  be  secured. 

Further  selections  towards  the  120,000  acres  to 
which  this  State  is  entitled,  have  been  made,  which 


31 

will  be  entered  as  rapidly  as  required  ;  the  expenses 
of  entering  and  of  taxes  are  saved  nntil  the  entry  is 
made. 

From  the  foregoing  statements  it  will  be  seen 
that  much  labor  and  expense  have  been  incurred  by 
the  University,  and  that  more  are  unavoidable,  in 
making  this  grant  available,  which  could  not  have 
been — certainly  were  not — anticipated,  and  which 
are  a  draft  upon  the  limited  income  of  the  University 
which  it  cannot  afford. 

A  doubt  has  been  suggested  whether  the  Resolu- 
tion of  the  General  Assembly,  assigning  the  land 
grant  to  Brown  University,  gives  the  same  right  to 
the  University  to  reimburse  itself  for  such  expenses 
out  of  the  sales  of  land,  which  the  State  itself  had. 
The  State  intended  to  transfer,  and  the  University 
intended  to  accept,  and  expected  to  incur  all  the 
rights  and  responsibilities  which  were  created  by  the 
Act  of  Congress.  If  such  a  difference  exists,  or  is 
supposed  to  exist,  disadvantageous  to  the  University, 
the  General  Assembly,  there  is  no  doubt,  will  willing- 
ly remove  it  by  a  remedial  or  explanatory  act. 

Respectfully  submitted,  in  behalf  of  the  Corpor- 
ation of  Brown  University,  by  the  Special  Commit- 
tee having  the  whole  charge  of  the  interest  of  the 
Agricultural  Lands. 

WILLIAM  J.   PATTEN, 

Chairman. 
Providence,  March  7,  1864. 


32 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

Berkeley,  4tli  November,  1889. 

Messrs.  Halliday  &  Finch,  Attorneys  for  Cornell 
University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  circular  of  Sept.  12th,  1889, 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  State  of  California, 
has  been  sent  to  nie  for  answer. 

First — There  has  been  no  judicial  determination 
of  the  Act  of  Congress,  July  2,  1862,  in  this  State. 
None  has  been  desired. 

Second — The  University  of  California  is  the 
beneficiary  of  the  land  grant.  (Agricultural  Land 
Grant  of  150,000  acres.) 

Third — The  full  5  per  cent,  is  paid  to  the  Uni- 
versity ;  in  fact  7  per  cent,  is  realized. 

Fourth — The  beneficiary  itself  pays  expenses, 
i.  e.  premiums  on  bonds  and  all  other  expenses  out  of 
its  own  General  Fund.  Hence  the  Land  Fund  re- 
ceives the  entire  income  from  Land  Principal,  which 
is  never  less  than  5  per  cent,  and  always  more.  The 
State  does  not  manage  the  sale  of  lands  under  the 
grant. 

Fifth — The  Land  F\ind  is  invested  in  State  and 
County  bonds  and  in  mortgage  on  land.  First  mort- 
gages only  are  taken. 

Sixth — The  State  has  entrusted  the  management 
of  the  Land  Sales  and  the  Land  Fund  to  the  benefici- 
ary, viz  :  the  Lhiiversity  of  California.  The  bonds  are 
in  the  custody  of  the  State  Treasurer. 

Seventh — We  have  realized  from  the  sale  of  the 
150,000  acres  $708,925.91.  There  remains  due  from 
purchasers  which  is  bearing  interest,  $62,760.95 


33 

Total  $771,686.86,  or  say  $5.00  per  acre. 

Yon  will  confer  a  favor  if  yon  will  kindly  inform 
nie  what  \on  hope  to  accomplish  by  yonr  friendly 
suit,  also  what  yonr  difficnlties  may  be  in  the  admin- 
istration of  your  office. 

Respectfully, 

I.  H.  C.  BONTE, 
Secretary  and  Land  Ao-ent  Universit\'  of  Cal. 


MISSOURI. 
Office  of  State  Treasurer. 

City  of  Jefferson,  Sept.  18,  18S9. 

Messrs.  Halliday  &  FI^XH,   22  East  State  Street, 
Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — In  reply  to  your  favor  of  the  12th 
inst.,  I  beg  to  say,  under  the  provisions  of  our  law, 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  lands  donated  to  the  State 
for  the  maintenance  of  Colleges  for  the  benefit  of 
Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts,  is  held  by  the  State 
Treasurer  and  invested  in  certificates  of  indebtedness 
of  the  State,  bearing  5  per  cent,  interest,  which  in- 
terest is  disbursed  by  the  Curators  of  our  State  Uni- 
versity at  Columbia,  for  the  support  of  an  Agricultur- 
al College  maintained  in  connection  with  the  Univer- 


34 

sity  at   that  place,    and  the   support   of  a   School   of 
Mines  and  Metallurgy,  located  at  Rolle. 

This  fund  aggregates  the  sum  of  $170,000.00, 
invested  as  before  stated.  We  have  no  expenses  such 
as  commissions,  premiums  on  securities,  etc.,  hence 
pay  none.  The  vState  has  never  parted  with  the  cus- 
tody of  any  of  the  principal  of  said  fund,  or  entrust- 
ed its  management  to  none  other  than  the  Curators 
of  our  University. 

There  has  not  been,  as  far  as  I  can  learn  any 
judicial  determination  or  construction  of  said  Act  of 
Congress. 

Respectfully, 

E.  T.  NOLAND, 

State  Treasurer. 


INDIANA. 
Purdue  University, 
LeFayette,  Ind.,  November  6,  1889. 
Hallidav  &  Finch,  22  E.  State  St.,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — In  response  to  your  inquiry  con- 
cerning the  financial  management  of  Purdue  Univer- 
sity, dated  Sept.  12th,  and  forwarded  to  me,  permit 
me  to  reply  as  follows  : 

First — I  know  of  no  judicial  determination  upon 
the  question  which  you  raise. 


35 

Second — Purdue  University,  LaFayette,  Indiana. 
Third— Yes. 

Fourth — All  the  proceeds  of  the  fund  without 
diminution  is  paid  to  the  University. 

Fifth  and  Sixth — The  fund  was,  originally,  in 
the  hands  of  the  Trustees  of  the  University.  The 
State  subsequently  took  the  money,  under  an  Act  of 
the  Legislature  and  issued  therefor  a  non-negotiable 
5  per  cent,  bond,  interest  payable  quarterly  to  the 
Treasurer  of  the  University. 

Seventh — Three  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars.    $340,000. 

Very  trul}-  yours, 

JAS.  H.  SMART, 

President. 


STATE  OF  MICHIGAN. 

Auditor  General's  Oefice, 

Lansing,  Sept.  20,  1S89. 

AlESSRS.  H.\Li,ii)AV  &  Fixcn,  Attorneys  for  Cornell 
University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Your  circular  letter  of  12th  to  the  State  Treasur- 
er has  been  referred  to  this  Department. 

As  there  was  sufficient  public  land  in  Michigan, 
from  which  the  donation  made  by  the  Acts  of  Con- 
gress of  July  2nd,  1862,  could  be  selected,  Michigan 


36 


had  no  "Scrip,"  but  selected  the  lands  and  assumed 
the  care  and  sale  of  them,  and  the  management  of 
the  resulting  fund.  Sales,  except  where  the  parcels 
were  mainly  valued  for  timber,  (in  which  case  full 
payment  is  required,)  are  made  on  payments  of  % 
of  the  price  down,  the  balance  to  remain  perpetual 
if  desired  on  interests  of  7  per  cent,  payable  annually. 
In  case  of  delinquency  in  payment  of  interest  on 
unpaid  balance,  the  land  rev^erts  to  the  State,  and  is 
resold,  all  payments,  both  of  principal  and  interest, 
received  on  the  first  sale  being  forfeited  to  the  fund. 
The  amount  received  on  principal  is  loaned  perpet- 
ually to  the  State  on  book  account  at  7  per  cent,  per 
annum,  payable  quarter  yearly.  The  interest  paid 
by  the  State  and  received  from  the  purchasers  on  un- 
paid balances,  is  quarter  yearly  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  which  is  the  ]\Ian- 
aging-  Board  of  the  Michigan  Agricultural  College, 
which  is  the  sole  beneficiary  under  the  grant.  All 
expenses  of  the  care  of  the  lands  and  resulting  funds 
are  met  from  the  general  revenue  of  the  State. 

Reference  is  had  to  pages  1401,  1402  and  1403, 
Volume  2,  Howell's  Annotated  Statutes  of  Michigan, 
for  the  law  bearing  upon  the  subject. 

At  the  close  of  the  last  fiscal  year,  June  30th, 
1889,  the  net  proceeds  of  sale  of  lands  on  which  the 
State  pays  interest,  was  $357,619.20. 

The  amount  of  interest  paid  by  the  State  on  the 
fund  loaned  to  it  during  said  year,  was  $24,551.32. 

The  net  interest  received  during  the  same  year 
from  purchasers  on  unpaid  balances,  was  $6,771.37. 

Income  for  interest  fimd  during  year,  $31,322.69, 


2>7 

At  the  close  of  said  fiscal  year  there  remained 
of  the  grant  114,094.61  acres  still  unsold. 

There  has  been  no  judicial  construction  in  this 
State,  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  care  and  manage- 
ment of  the  grant  or  resulting  funds. 

Very  respectfully, 

H.  R.  PRATT, 

Dep,  and  Gen'l. 


WISCONSIN. 

I.AW  OFFICES  OF 

HALLIDAY  &  FINCH, 

22  East  State  Street,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Sept.  1 2th,  1889. 

To  THE  Treasurer  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin. 

Dear  Sir.— In  1S62,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  passed 
au  Act ;  "  Donating  public  lands  to  the  several  states  and  territor- 
ies which  may  provide  Colleges  for  the  benefit  of  Agriculture  and 
Mechanic  Arts,"  and  apportioning  to  each  State  public  lands  or 
land  scrip  equal  to  thirty  thousand  acres  for  each  Senator  and  rep- 
resentative in  Congress. 

The  State  of  New  York  made  Cornell  University,  at  Ithaca, 
N.  Y.,  the  sole  beneficiary  of  the  fund  derived  by  it  from  the 
said  lands  or  laud  scrip. 

There  is  now  pending  between  Cornell  University  aud  the 
State  of  New  York,  an  entirely  friendly  action,  in  which  both 
sides  ask  for  a  judicial  construction  of  manj-  provisions  of  said  Act 


38 


of  Congress,  and  a  deterniinalion  of  the  obligations  and  relations 
of  the  State  to  the  said  fund. 

It  is  deemed  desirable  to  ascertain  as  far  as  possible  what  has 
been  the  actual  practice  in  the  various  States  and  Territories  in 
regard  to  the  management  of  said  Agricultural  Land  Scrip  Fund. 
As  ever}'  State  will  be  interested  in  the  decision  in  the  above  case, 
we  venture  to  make  the  following  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  man- 
agement and  condition  of  the  fund  in  your  State  : 

First — Has  there  been  anj-  Judicial  determination  or  construc- 
tion of  said  Act  of  Congress  in  your  State?  If  so,  can  3-ou  inform 
us  where  the  decision  is  reported,  and  as  to  its  general  nature  ? 

Second — What  institution  is  the  beneficiary  in  your  state  ? 

Third — Does  }-our  State  pay  to  the  said  beneficiary  the  full  5 
per  cent,  income  contemplated  by  said  Act  of  Congress,  whether 
the  fund  actually  earns  5  per  cent,  or  not  ? 

Fourth — Does  your  State  pa}'  out  of  its  general  funds  all  the 
"  Expenses  of  the  management,  superintendence,  &c.,"  of  said 
fund,  such  as  commissions,  premiums  on  securities,  &c.  ;  or  are 
these  expenses  taken  from  the  actual  income  of  the  fund,  and  the 
balance  of  said  income  only  turned  over  to  the  beneficiary  ? 

Fifth — Briefly  and  in  general  terms,  please  give  us  the  nature 
of  the  securities  in  which  the  fund  is  invested. 

Sixth — Has  the  State  ever  parted  with  the  custody  of  any  of 
the  principal  of  said  fund  ;  or  intrusted  its  management  to  the 
beneficiary,  or  to  any  other  person  for  the  beneficiary  ? 

Seventh — What  is  the  amount  of  the  principal  fund  in  your 
State  ? 

If  you,  as  Treasurer  of  your  State,  are  not  the  proper  person 
to  furnish  the  above  information,  will  you  kindly  see  that  this 
communication  is  handed  to  the  proper  oflicer  or  department  ? 

An  early  answer  is  much  desired. 

Very  truly  yours, 

HALLIDAY  &  FINCH, 
Att'ys  for  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Respectfully  referred  to  Secretary  Timmen, 

H.  B.  H. 


39 


First — There  has  been  no  judicial  determination 
or  construction  of  said  law  in  this  State. 

Second — The  State  University,  which  has  an 
Agricultural  Department. 

Third — The  annual  State  Tax  for  the  University 
is  1/8  of  a  mill  on  all  taxable  property  in  the  State. 
This  Tax  for  1888  was  $71,653.73. 

Fourth — The  State  pays  from  General  fund  all 
expenses  of  management  and  superintendence  of  said 
fund.  Premiums  on  securities  are  paid  from  the  fund 
income. 

Fifth — The  income  is  derived  from  interest  on 
unpaid  amounts  on  contracts  of  sale  of  lands,  on 
bonds  of  the  United  States,  certificates  of  indebted- 
ness of  Wisconsin,  bonds  of  counties,  cities  and  vil- 
lages within  the  State,  also  loans  to  counties,  cities, 
villages,  towns  and  school  districts  in  the  State. 

Sixth— It  has  not. 

Seventh— September  30,  1888 — $363,738.98. 


WEST  VIRGINIA. 
Charlkstox,  W.  Va.,  December  3d,  1889. 

Hallidav  &  FiNXii,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Dear  Sirs. — The  delay  in  answering  your  letter 
was  caused  by  my  having  to  send  to  the  University 
and  examine  the  records  of  that  school. 


40 

Answer  to  question  First — There  has  been  no 
judicial  decision. 

Answer  to  question  Second — The  West  Virginia 
University. 

Answer  to  question  Third — No. 

Answer  to  question  Fourth — The  management  of 
the  fund  is  intrusted  to  a  Board  of  Regents,  whose 
expenses  are  paid  out  of  the  General  Treasury  of  the 
State. 

Answer  to  question  Fifth — Invested  in  currency 
sixs,  or  Pacific  Railroad  Bonds,  guaranteed  by  the 
General  Government.  In  the  name  of  the  Governor 
of  West  Virginia,  for  the  benefit  of  the  West  Virginia 
University.  The  interest  is  six  per  cent.  No  part 
of  the  fund  has  ever  been  used. 

Answer  to  question  Sixth — The  Treasurer  of  the 
University  is  the  custodian  of  the  bonds  ;  the  man- 
agement of  them  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Board  of 
Regents  of  the  West  Virginia  University. 

Answer  to  question  Seventh — The  amount  is 
ninety  thousand  dollars. 

Yours  respectfully, 

W.  T.  THOMPSON, 

Treasurer. 


41 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  :\IASSACHUS1-:TTS. 

Treasury  Dkpart.mkxt, 

Boston,  Sept.  27,  1S89. 

Messrs.    Halliday  &    Finch,    22    East   State   St., 
Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  favor  of  the  12th  instant, 
asking  for  information  as  to  the  proceedings  of  Mass- 
achusetts in  the  establishment  of  Colleges  for  tlie  ben- 
efit of  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts  under  the 
Act  of  Congress,  passed  in  1862,  donating  public 
lands  to  States  and  Territories  for  that  purpose,  is 
received. 

.  By  the  Acts  of  1863,  Chapter  166,  Massachusetts 
accepted  the  grant  of  the  United  States,  established 
the  "Fund  for  the  promotion  of  Education  in  Agri- 
culture and  the  ^Mechanic  Arts,"  and  appropriated 
two-thirds  of  the  income  of  that  fund  to  the  support 
of  an  Agricultural  College.  The  remaining  third  of 
the  income  was,  by  Chapter  186  of  the  same  year, 
appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute 
of  Technology,  a  corporation  then  and  still  existing. 

Chapter  220  of  1863,  incorporated  the  Trustees 
of  the  Agricultural  College,  and  Chapter  186  of  the 
Acts  of  the  year  1864  appropriated  one-tenth  of  the 
receipts  from  the  sale  of  the  Land  Scrip  towards  the 
purchase  of  a  site  for  the  .Agricultural  Farm.  Dnring 
the  years  1864,  1866  and  1867  all  the  Land  Scrip 
granted  to  Massachu.setts  (for  360,000  acres  of  land) 
was  sold,  and  the 


42 


Amount  realized  for  it  was $236,307  40 

From  which  a  farm  was  purchased  for  29,778  40 


Leaviug  the  amount  of  the  fund,  Dec. 

31,  1887,  in   cash  and  securities. 

at  cost $206,529  00 

Certain  securities   were,    by  advice  of 

the    Attorney  General,    raised  to 

par  in  1871,  addinj^ 1^895  65 

And   in  the  same  year,  by  Chapter  89 

of  the   Resolves,  the   Legislature 

added  enough  to  the  fund  to  make 

it  amount  to  $350,000.00,  say.    .         $141,575  35 


Total  Fund,  Dec.  31,  187 1, $350,000  00 

The  sale  of  U.  S.  Bonds,  in  the  fund, 

at  a  premium,  increased  it  .    .    .  10,067  4^ 


Making  a  total  fund  of $360,067  40 

which  remained  unchanged  until  Dec.  31,  1881. 

In  1882,  owing  to  the  downward  tendency  of 
interest  on  investments,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to 
separate  the  "Agricultural  College  F^und"  into  two 
parts,  containing  the  grant  from  the  United  States 
and  a  grant  from  the  Commonwealth  respectively,  in 
order  that  five  per  cent,  on  the  investment  of  the 
United  States  grant  should  be  assured.  The  one  part 
was  called  the  "Technical  Education  Fund,  United 
States  Grant,"  and  the  other  the  "Technical  Educa- 
tion Fund,  Commonwealths  Grant,"  and  they  so 
remain. 

The  "United  States  Grant"  amounted  at  that 
time  to   $219,000   and    was  invested    in    Boston  and 


43 


Albany  5  per  cent.  20  year  R.  R.  bonds  ;  this  fnnd 
has  remained  nnclianged  from  that  time  (1882.) 

The  "Commonwealth  Grant,"  amounted  in  1882 
to  $141,575.35  and  is  still  of  that  amount. 

Answering  the  questions  in  )our circular  in  regu- 
lar order,  and  remarking  that  the  answers  apply  only 
to  the  part  of  the  fund  which  came  from  the  U.  S. 
Grant,  I  have  to  say  : 

First — No  "judicial  determination  or  construc- 
tion of  said  Act  of  Congress"  in  this  State  has  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  this  department. 

Second — The  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College 
and  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology. 

Third — Massachusetts  will  no  doul^t  pay  the  full 
fi\-e  per  cent,  income,  whether  the  fund  earns  it  in 
full  or  not,  but  the  actual  income  from  investments 
has  so  far,  never  fallen  below  five  per  cent. 

Fourth — The  State  Treasurer  is  also  treasurer  of 
the  fund,  and  the  management,  superintendence,  etc., 
is  included  in  his  duties  and  covered  by  his  salary  as 
Treasurer  of  the  Commonwealth  ;  no  commissions  or 
premiums  have  been  paid  on  securities  purchased  for 
this  fund,  therefore,  the  gross  income  goes  to  its  ben- 
eficiaries. 

Fifth — The  fund  is  invested  in  Boston  and  A]l)any 
R.  R.  5  per  cent,  bonds. 

Sixth — The  fnnd  has,  from  the  beginning,  been 
entirely  in  the  control  of  the  State,  and  can  not  be 
transferred  without  legislative  action. 

Seventh — Two  hundred  ninc-tcen  llxjusaud  dol- 
lars.     ($219,000.) 


44 

Trusting  the  information  will   meet  your  wants, 
I  am, 

Yours  truh", 

GEO.  A.  MARDEX, 

Treasurer. 

By  John  Q.  Adams,  Pr.  Clerk. 


OHIO  STATE  UNIVERSITY. 

Board  of  Trustees. 

Thos.  J.  Godfrey,  President,  Celina. 

David  M.  Massie,    \'ice-President,  Chillicotlie. 

H.  J.  Booth,  Columbus,     Thos.  A.  Cowgill,  Kenard, 

R.  B.  Hayes,  Fremont.      Jos.  H.  Brigham,  Delta. 

L.  B.  Wing,  Newark. 

Alexis  Cope,   Secretary,  Columbus. 

Columbus,  Ohio,  P'eb.  3,  1S90. 

Halliday  &  Finch,   Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — I  regret  that  I  did  not  receive 
your  circular  of  Sept.  12,  1889,  and  your  letter  of 
Jan.  9,  1890,  to  the  Auditor  of  State  of  Ohio,  sooner. 
They  have  just  been  referred  to  me,  and  I  hasten  to 
answer  \-our  inquiries,  hoping  it  ma}'  be  in  lime  to  be 
of  service. 


45 


First — There  has  been  in  Ohio,  no  judicial  deter- 
mination or  construction  of  tlie  Act  of  Congress, 
known  as  the  "Land  Grant  Act." 

Second — This  institution  is  the  sole  beneficiary 
in  this  State  of  the  grant  mentioned  in  said  act. 

Third — The  fund  received  from  the  sale  of  the 
Land  Scrip,  was  paid  into  the  State  Treasury  and 
made  a  part  of  the  irreducible  debt  of  the  State,  up- 
on which  the  State  pays  the  institution  6  per  cent, 
interest  semi-annually,  without  deducting  for  anv 
cause,  or  on  any  account.  This  answers  also  your 
fourth  and  fifth  inquiries. 

Sixth — The  principal  of  the  fund  remains  undi- 
minished, and,  by  the  terms  of  the  law  providing  for 
its  custody,  must  remain  so  forever. 

The  State  has  never  entrusted  its  management  to 
the  beneficiary  or  to  an}-  person  for  it. 

The  original  fund  was  $342,450.80.  It  has  been 
increased  by  unused  interests,  and  from  other  sources 
until  it  is  now  $541, 132.44. 

I  should  perhaps  explain  that  under  the  law  pro- 
viding for  its  safe  keeping,  the  interest  is  to  be  drawn 
Jan.  ist,  and  July  ist.  If  at  any  of  these  rests,  any 
interest  remains  unpaid,  it  is  added  to  the  principal 
of  said  fund  and  draws  interest  from  that  date. 

I  would  be  pleased  to  have  the  decision  of  your 
courts  on  the  questions  raised  in  the  friendly  suit  you 
mention  in  your  circular  above  referred  to,  and  will 
be  pleased  to  give  you  further  information  if  desired. 

Yours  truly, 

ALEXIS  COPE. 


46 
NEVADA. 

LAW  OFFICES  OF 
HALLIDAY&  FINCH, 

22  East  State  Street,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

To  THE  Treasurer  of  the  State  of  Nevada. 


Sept.  1 2th,  18S9. 


De.\R  Sir. — In  1S62,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  passed 
an  Act ;  "  Donating  public  lands  to  the  several  states  and  territor- 
ies which  may  provide  Colleges  for  the  benefit  of  Agriculture  and 
Mechanic  Arts, "  and  apportioning  to  each  State  public  lands  or 
land  scrip  equal  to  thirty  thousand  acres  for  each  Senator  and  rep- 
resentative in  Congress. 

The  State  of  New  York  made  Cornell  University,  at  Ithaca, 
N.  Y.,  the  sole  beneficiary  of  the  fund  derived  by  it  from  the 
said  lands, or  land  scrip. 

There  is  now  pending  between  Cornell  University  and  the 
State  of  New  York,  an  entirel}^  friendly  action,  in  which  both 
sides  ask  for  a  judicial  construction  of  raanj' provisions  of  said  Act 
of  Congress,  and  a  determination  of  the  obligations  and  relations 
of  the  State  to  the  said  fund. 

It  is  deemed  desirable  to  ascertain  as  far  as  possible  what  has 
been  the  actual  practice  in  the  various  States  and  Territories  in 
regard  to  the  management  of  said  Agricultural  Land  Scrip  Fund. 
As  every  State  will  be  interested  in  the  decision  in  the  above  case, 
we  venture  to  make  the  following  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  man- 
agement and  condition  of  the  fund  in  your  State  : 

First — Has  there  been  any  Judicial  determination  or  construc- 
tion of  said  Act  of  Congress  in  j^our  State?  If  so,  can  j-ou  inform 
us  where  the  decision  is  reported,  and  as  to  its  general  nature  ? 

Aiisiver — A'o. 

Second — What  institution  is  the  beneficiary  in  your  state? 

Attswer — Nevada  State  University. 

Third — Does  your  State  pay  to  the  said  beneficiary  the  full  5 
per  cent,  income  contemplated  by  said  Act  of  Congress,  whether 
the  fund  actually  earns  5  per  cent,  or  not  ? 

A  Hswer — Moi'e. 


47 


Fourth — Does  your  State  pay  out  of  its  general  funds  all  the 
"  Expenses  of  the  management,  superintendence,  &c.,"  of  said 
fund,  such  as  commissions,  premiums  on  securities,  &c.  ;  or  are 
these  expenses  taken  from  the  actual  income  of  the  fund,  and  the 
balance  of  said  income  only  turned  over  to  the  beneficiary  ? 

Ansiver —  There  has  been  no  expense. 

Fifth — Briefly  and  in  general  terms,  please  give  us  the  nature 
of  the  securities  in  which  the  fund  is  invested. 

Ansiver — U.  S  ^  per  cent,  bands  and  Nevada  ^percent,  bonds. 

Sixth — Has  the  State  ever  parted  with  the  custody  of  any  of 
the  principal  of  said  fund  ;  or  intrusted  its  management  to  the 
beneficiary,  or  to  an}'  other  person  for  the  beneficiary  ? 

Anszuer — .\'o. 

Seventh — What  is  the  amount  of  the  principal  fund  in  your 
State  ? 

Answer — $g^,ooo,  about. 

If  you,  as  Treasurer  of  your  State,  are  not  the  proper  person 
to  furnish  the  above  information,  will  you  kindly  see  that  this 
communication  is  handed  to  the  proper  officer  or  department  ? 

An  early  answer  is  much  desired. 

Very  truly  yours, 

HAIJJDAY  &  FINCH, 
Att'vs  for  Cornell  I'niversitv,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 


Carson  City,  Nevada,  Sept.  23,  1889. 

Messrs.  Halliday  &  Finx^h. 

By  request  of  the  State  Treasurer,  I  have  written 
answers  to  the  questions  above  set  forth. 

Respectfully, 

J.  F.  HALLOCK, 

State  Comptroller, 


48 
CO:^niOX\VEALTH  OF  PEXXSYLVAXIA. 

EXECUTIVE   CHAMBER. 

Harrisbiirg,  Oct.  i,  1S89. 

Messrs.  Hallidav  &Fin-ch,  Attorneys,  etc.,  Ithaca, 
X.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  circular  letter  of  the  12th 
instant  has  been  handed  me  by  the  State  Treasurer, 
with  the  request  that,  inasmuch  as  I  am  familiar  with 
the  subject  therein  referred  to,  I  make  reply  thereto 
to  vou.      I  reply  to  your  interrogatories  in  their  order: 

First — There  lias  never  been  any  judicial  deter- 
mination or  construction  of  the  Act  of  Congress  of 
1862,  in  Penn.sylvania,  for  the  reason  that  there  has 
been  no  necessity  of  any  kind  for  judicial  utterance 
in  relation  thereto. 

Second — The  Pennsylvania  State  College,  Centre 
Co.,  Pa.,  is  the  beneficiary  of  the  Land  Scrip  Fund. 

Third — Our  State  pays  to  the  beneficiary,  six 
per  cent,  interest  upon  the  full  amount  of  n^oney  re- 
alized from  the  sale  of  the  Land  Scrip,  together  with 
a  considerable  amount  in  excess  thereof  appropriated 
by  the  Legislature. 

Fourth — There  are  no  expenses  of  management, 
superintendence,  etc.,  of  the  said  fund  necessary  to 
to  be  paid.  My  recollection  is,  that  all  the  expenses 
of  management  at  the  time  that  a  commission  was 
organized  for  the  purpose  of  making  sale  of  the  Land 
Scrip,  were  paid  by  the  State. 

P'ifth — The  entire  fund  in  the  liands  of  the  Land 
Scrip  Commissioners,   together   with    about   $94,000 


49 


were  invested  in  the  bond  of  the  Commonwealth, 
amounting  to  $500,000,  with  interest  at  6  per  cent., 
payable  semi-annually,  which  isregularh-  paid  to  the 
trustees  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  College.  Our 
Land  Scrip  was  sold  in  the  open  market,  averaging 
some  55  cents  per  acre.  The  money  realized  from 
this  sale  was  originally  invested  in  government  bonds. 
They,  together  with  the  premium  and  interest  there- 
on when  sold,  amounted  to  something  over  $400,000, 
but  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Scrip  had  been  .sold 
at  a  very  low  price,  the  State  made  an  appropriation 
as  above  recited,  and  made  the  bond  $500,000.  Late- 
ly, Experimental  Farms  which  had  been  established 
in  connection  with  the  State  College  in  the  Eastern 
and  Western  parts  of  the  State,  and  which  were  not 
accomplishing  what  had  been  hoped  therefrom,  were 
sold  and  the  proceeds  thereof,  namely  :  $17,000,  were 
added  to  this  fund,  upon  which  the  State  also  pa\-s 
six  per  cent,  interest  per  annum. 

The  amount  of  the  endowment  fund  of  the  Col- 
lege therefore,  arising  from  the  Land  Scrip  Fund  and 
the  addition  made  thereto  by  the  wState,  is  $517,000, 
secured  as  already  stated  by  the  bond  of  the  Com- 
monwealth itself,  payable  about  1920. 

The  State  never  parted  with  any  portion  of  the 
principal  of  the  fund,  nor  did  it  entrust  the  manage- 
ment to  the  beneficiar\'  or  to  any  other  i)erson  for  the 
beneficiar}'. 

A  special  Land  Scrip  Commission  was  a]ii)ointed 
by  the  Legislature,  consisting  of  the  Governor,  the 
State  Treasurer,  and  the  then  Surveyor-Cicneral,  who 
had  the  management  of  the  fund  until  its  proceeds 
were  turned  into  the  sinking  fund,  and  the  bond  of 
the  State  given  as  above  referred  to. 


50 

This,  I  tliink,  answers  all  your  inquiries  fully 
and  explicith'.  If  there  be  any  other  question  relat- 
ing to  the  subject  which  I  can  answer,  it  will  give 
me  pleasure  to  respond  more  fully. 

Very  cordial!}-  yours, 

JAMES  A.  BEAVER. 


TENNESSEE. 
State  Department  of  Agriculture. 

Office  of  B.  M.  HORD,  Commissioner. 
Bureau  of  Agriculture,  Statistics, 
Mines  and  Immigration. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  Sept.  20,  1S89. 
Messrs.  Halliday  &  Finch,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Yours  of  12th,  inst. ,  to  Treasurer 
of  the  State,  has  been  referred  to  this  office  for  reply. 
The  fund  derived  from  the  sale  of  the  Land  Scrip 
received  from  the  General  Government,  was  invested 
in  bonds  of  the  State  aggregating  $403,500.  These 
bonds  are  in  custody  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
University  of  Tennessee  at  Knoxville.  The  State 
pays  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
U.  of  T.,  $12,105,   semi-annually,  or  6    percent,  per 


51 

annum  on  the  fund.  If  any  expenses  of  the  manage- 
ment, superintendence,  etc.,  of  this  fund  are  any- 
where charged  or  incurred,  such  expenses  inure 
after  the  State  has  paid  the  money. 

Respectfully  yours,  etc., 

B.  M.  HORD, 

Commissioner. 

V. 


VERMONT. 

LAW  OFFICES  OF 

HALLIDAY  &  FINCH, 

22  East  State  Street,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Sept.  1 2th,  1S89. 

To  THK  TrE.\SURER  OF  THE  STATE  OF  VERMONT. 

Dear  Sir. — In  1862,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  passed 
an  Act ;  "  Donating  public  lands  to  the  several  states  and  territor- 
ies which  may  provide  Colleges  for  the  benefit  of  Agriculture  and 
Mechanic  Arts,"  and  apportioning  to  each  State  public  lands  or 
land  scrip  equal  to  thirty  thousand  acres  for  each  Senator  and  rep- 
resentative in  Congress. 

The  State  of  New  York  made  Cornell  University,  at  Ithaca, 
N.  Y.,  the  sole  beneficiary  of  the  fund  derived  by  it  from  the 
said  lands  or  land  scrip. 

There  is  now  pending  between  Cornell  University  and  the 
State  of  New  York,  an  entirely  friendly  action,  in  which  both 
sides  ask  for  a  judicial  construction  of  many  provisions  of  said  -Act 
of  Congress,  and  a  determination  of  the  obligations  and  relations 
of  the  State  to  the  said  fund. 

It  is  deemed  desirable  to  ascertain  as  far  as  possible  what  has 
been  the  actual  practice  in  the  various  States  and  Territories  in 
regard  to  the  management  of  said    .Agricultural    Land  Scrip  I'und. 


As  every  State  will  be  interested  in  the  decision  in  the  above  ca^e, 
we  venture  to  make  the  following  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  man- 
agement and  condition  of  the  fund  in  your  State  : 

First — Has  there  been  any  Judicial  determination  or  construc- 
tion of  said  Act  of  Congress  in  your  State?  If  so,  can  you  inform 
us  where  the  decision  is  reported,  and  as  to  its  general  nature  ? 

Anstver—None. 

Second — What  institution  is  the  beneficiary  in  your  state? 

A  nsiuer — Agricultural  College. 

Third — Doesj-our  State  pay  to  the  said  beneficiary  the  full  5 
per  cent,  income  contemplated  by  said  Act  of  Cotigress,  whether 
the  fund  actually  earns  5  per  cent,  or  not  ? 

Anscver —  Yes  at  6  per  cent. 

Fourth — Does  your  State  pay  out  of  its  general  funds  all  the 
"  Expenses  of  the  management,  superintendence,  &c.,"  of  said 
fund,  such  as  commissions,  premiums  on  securities,  &c.  ;  or  are 
these  expenses  taken  from  the  actual  income  of  the  fund,  and  the 
balance  of  said  income  only  turned  over  to  the  beneficiary  ? 

Answer^No  expenses. 

Fifth — Briefly  and  in  general  terms,  please  give  us  the  nature 
of  the  securities  in  which  the  fund  is  invested. 

Answer — Money  used  by  the  Slate  and  Registered  Bonds  issued, 
bearing  6  per  cent. 

Sixth — Has  the  State  ever  parted  with  the  custody  of  any  of 
the  principal  of  said  fund  ;  or  intrusted  its  management  to  the 
beneficiary,  or  to  any  other  person  for  the  beneficiar\-  ? 

Seventh — What  is  the  amount  of  the  principal  fund  in  your 
State  ? 

A  nsu'er^$/j3,§oo. 

If  you,  as  Treasurer  of  your  State,  are  not  the  proper  person 
to  furnish  the  above  information,  will  you  kindly  see  that  this 
communication  is  handed  to  the  proper  officer  or  department  ? 

An  early  answer  is  much  desired. 

Very  truly  yours, 

HALIJDAY  &  FINCH. 
Att'ys  for  Cornell  University.  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 


53 


STATE    FINA^X'ES. 


Statement  showing  the  revenue  and  disbursements  of 
the  State  of  Vermont  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
July  31,  1889. 

*         *  *  *  *  *  * 

Disbii  rscm  en  ts. 

Amount  of  Income   Bennington    Battle 

Monument    Fund    paid    to    L.    R. 

Graves,  Treasurer, $655  30 

Extra  State  pay  to  Soldiers, 9  79 

Experiment  Station  Appropriation,  .    .  3.500  00 

Gettysburg  Appropriation,  on  account  of         9.323  90 
Temporary  Loans,  Act  of  1886,  paid,  .         85,000  00 

"  "  "         1888,      ''       .         30,000  00 

Auditor's  Orders,  paid, 452,729  54 

Debentures,  General  Assembly,  1888,  .         55,424  30 

Interest 

On  Registered  Loan,    1890,     $8,130  00 

Temporary  Loans,    ....         1,494  65 

To  Towns,  Hunt'gton  Fund,      12,197  32 

"         U.    S.    Surplus 

Money, 754  68        22,576  65 

Paid  West  Fairlee  Savings  Banks  under 

Act  No.  282,  1888, 171  83 

Cash  in  Bauks, 33,813  83 

Cash  on  hand, 2,349  58 

Total, $695,554  72 

Resources. 
Cash  on  hand  and  in  Banks,   $36,163  41 
Estimated  amount  from  tax 

from    corporations     for 

18S9, 240,000  00 


54 


Estimated  amount  of  State 
tax  of  twenty  cents  on 
the  dollar  on  Grand  List 
of  1889,  due  Nov.  10, 
1889, 350,000  00   $626,163  41 

Liabilities. 

Due  Towns,  U.  S.   Surplus 

Fund, 12,916  37 

Duesoldiers  unpaid  balances       8,350  18 

Due  on   Gettysburg   apjjro- 

priations, 6,556  10 

Temporary  Loans,  outstand- 
ing Aug.  I,    1889,     .    .     143,165  00      170,987  65 

Leaving  available  for  the  current  fiscal 

year, $455,1/5  76 

The    Agricultural     College 

Fund,    represented    by 

Registered  Bonds  of  the 

State,  due  June  I,   1890,     $135,500, 
Is  extended  by  Act  No.  i,  of 

the  Laws  of  1888,  for  the 

period  of  twenty,  years. 

WM.  H.  DUBOIS, 
Aug.  I,  1889.  State  Treasurer. 


* 


VERMONT   PUBLIC   ACTS. 

Sec.     6.      So   much    of  Act  109,    of  the  laws  of 
1886,  as  authorized  the  Treasurer  of  the  State  to  bor- 


55 


row  money,    on    the  credit   of  the    State,    is   hereby 
repealed. 

Sec.  7.  The  Treasnrer  of  this  State  is  hereby 
authorized  to  reissue  to  the  Agricultural  College 
Fund,  now  held  in  trust  by  the  State,  one  hundred 
thirty-five  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  in  certifi- 
cates of  the  registered  loan  of  this  State,  which  shall 
be  made  redeemable  at  the  Treasury  Office  on  the 
first  day  of  June,  A.  D.,«i9io,  on  which  the  interest 
shall  be  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  payable  semi- 
annually on  the  first  days  of  June  and  December  in 
each  year,  at  the  Treasurer's  Office.  Said  loan  shall 
be  inscribed  on  the  books  of  the  Treasurer's  Office, 
and  also  in  the  books  of  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State,  and  the  certificates  thereof  shall  bear  the  seal 
of  the  Treasurer's  Office,^  the  signatures  of  the  Treas- 
urer and  Secretary  of  State,  and  be  in  such  form  as 
the  Treasurer  shall  prescribe. 

Sec.  8.  The  Treasurer  of  this  State  is  here- 
by directed  on  the  first  day  of  June,  1890,  to  cancel 
the  certificates  of  the  registered  loan  of  this  State 
now  in  his  custody,  belonging  to  the  Agricultural 
College  Fund. 

Sec.  9.  This  Act  shall  take  effect  from  its 
passage. 

Approved  November  27,  1888. 


56 
UNIVERSITY  OF  NEBRASKA, 

OFFICE   OF   STEWARD    AND   SECRETARY. 

Eiiicoln,  Neb.,  Nov.  i6,  1889. 
Halliday  &  FixcH,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  circular  letters,  addressed 
to  the  State  Treasurer,  have  beeu  referred  to  me  for 
reply. 

In  reply  to  your  first  question — There  have  been 
two  cases  decided  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  State 
with  respect  to  the  funds  of  the  College  of  Agricul- 
ture and  Mechanic  Arts,  as  described  in  the  Act  of 
Congress  of  1862,  which  in  this  State  is  one  of  the 
Colleges  of  the  State  University.  See  9th.  Nebraska, 
470,  State  ex  rel.  AlcUean  vs.  Liedtke  and  17th  Ne- 
braska, 612,  State  ex.  rel.  Bessey  vs.  Babcock. 

In  reply  to  your  second  question — The  College 
of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts,  now  called  the 
Industrial  College  of  the  University  of  Nebraska,  is 
the  beneficiary. 

In  answer  to  your  third  question — No. 

In  answer  to  your  fourth  question — The  State 
pays  from  its  general  fund  the  expenses  of  the  man- 
agement, etc.,  of  the  lands,  funds,  etc.,  and  none  of 
these  expenses  are  taken  from  the  permanent  or  tem- 
porary funds  of  the  College.  Under  the  Constitution 
of  this  State,  and  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court  above  cited,  it  requires  a  specific  Legislative 
appropriation  of  this  money,  before  it  can  be  used  by 
the  institution. 

In  answer  to  your  fifth  question — The  mone^•s 
accruing  to   the    permanent   fund   have    so  far  been 


57 


invested  in  the  precise  kind  of  securities  prox'ided  for 
by  the  Act  of  Congress. 

In  answer  to  your  sixth  question — No. 

In  answer  to  your  seventh  question — The  last 
bi-ennial  report  of  the  State  Treasurer,  showed  on 
hand  November  30th,  1S88,  to  the  credit  of  the  per- 
manent endowment  fund  of  the  Agricultural  or 
Industrial  College,  $39,504.52.  The  State  Treasurer 
is  the  only  person  who  can  give  you  the  exact  figures 
at  this  date.  For  the  law  of  Nebraska  relating  to 
the  leasing,  selling  and  management  of  educational 
lands  and  management  of  the  funds  arising  there- 
from, see  the  Compiled  Statutes  of  Nebraska,  1887, 
pages  678-685. 

Yours  verv  trulv, 


J.  S.  DALES, 

Steward  and  Sec'y, 


STATE  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

SCHOOL    FUND    DEPARTMKNT. 

Jeremiah  Olnev,   Connnissioner. 

Hartford,  Sept.  23,  1889. 

Halliday  &  FrxCH,    22    East    vState    Street,  Ithaca, 
N.  Y. 

Gext.s. — Yours  of  the   i2t]i  inst.,  in  reference 
to  an    Act    of  Congress,    donating   certain    lands    to 


58 


vStales  and  Territories,  as  provide  Colleges  for  the 
benefit  of  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts,  etc., 
addressed  to  the  Treasurer  of  this  State,  has  been 
handed  in  to  this  department  to  reply.  I  answer  the 
questions  proposed  in  the  order  named  b}'  you  : 

First— No. 

Second — Yale  Scientific  School,  through  a  con- 
tract with  the  State,  by  the  President  and  Fellows  of 
Yale  College. 

Third— Yes, 

Fourth — Expenses  of  management,  superintend- 
ence, etc.,  paid  out  of  the  General  Funds  of  the 
State.      None  from  the  income. 

Fifth — In  bonds  secured  b)- mortgages  upon  Real 
Estate  and  in  Town  Bonds  in  this  State. 

Sixth— No. 

Seventh — $135,000.00. 


Resp')'  yours, 


JEREMIAH  OLNEY, 

Commissioner. 

By  C.  O.  Si>EXCER, 

Chief  Clerk. 


59 
NORTH  CAROLINA. 

TRKASr RV    DKl'ART.M KXT. 

Raleigli,  Sepleinber  i8,  1889. 

Messrs.    Hai.lidav  &  Finch,    Attorneys,  etc., 
Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

EAR  Sirs.  —  V 
received  to-day.      I  reply  in  a  general  wa>^  : 

Under  Act  of  onr  general  Assembly,  Febrnary 
II,  1867,  the  Land  Scrip  was  transferred  to  the  State 
University,  for  the  purpose  of  eflfecting  the  object  of 
the  grant.  It  was  sold  for  $125,000,  and  the  Univer- 
sity has  received  the  benefit  of  an  annual  interest 
thereon  of  six  per  cent,  from  the  State  since  1874. 

Under  Act  of  1887,  said  interest  will  be  paid 
hereafter  to  the  College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic 
Arts  to  be  opened  next  month.  The  investment  is  in 
the  nature  of  a  certificate  of  indebtedness  issued  b}- 
the  State  Treasurer  to  the  Trustees  of  tlie  University 
by  authority  of  Chapter  352,  Acts  of  i874-'75.  The 
certificate  will  soon  be  transferred  to  the  College  of 
Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts. 

Very  respectfully, 

I).  W.  HA IX, 

State  Treasurer. 


6o 
SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

KXECLTIVH    DHPARTMEXT. 

OFFIC?:   OF   STATE   TREASURER. 

Columbia,  S.  C,  Sept.  19,  18S9. 
^Iessrs.  Hallidav  &  FiN-CH,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  circular  of  12th  inst.  con- 
cerning the  Act  of  Congress,  donating  public  lands 
to  the  several  States  and  Territories,  which  nia\'  pro- 
vide Colleges  for  the  benefit  of  Agriculture  and  the 
Mechanic  Arts,  has  been  received,  and  I  answer  your 
questions  as  follows  : 

First — There  has  been  no  judicial  determination 
or  construction  of  said  Act  of  Congress  in  this  State. 

Second — The  State  Universit)-  is  the  beneficiary 
in  this  State. 

Third — This  State  pays  6  per  cent,  on  said  fund. 

Fourth — There  is  no  expense  attending  said  fund, 
therefore  the  beneficiary  gets  all  the  interest. 

Fifth — An  Act  of  1879,  page  86,  provides  for  the 
investment  and  use  of  the  Agricultural  College  Fund; 
said  x\ct  says  that  the  State  Treasurer  is  required  to 
issue  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Universit}-  of 
South  Carolina,  a  certificate  of  State  stock  in  the 
sum  of  one  hundred  and  ninet)--one  thousand  eight 
hundred  dollars,  (191,800)  bearing  interest  at  the  rate 
of  6  per  cent,  per  annum,  from  July  ist,  A.  D.,  1879, 
payable  semi-annually,  to  be  held  by  the  University 
of  South  Carolina,  as  a  perpetual  fund,  (the  capital  of 
which  shall  remain  forever  undiminished, )  to  be  used 
by  said  Board  of  Trustees  solely  for  the  purposes  for 


6i 


which  the  said  Land  Scrip  as  originally  donated  by 
the  Acts  of  the  Congress  of  the  U.  S.,  in  relation 
thereto. 

The  said  certificate  of  stock  to  be  held  in  lien 
and  stead  of  the  Agricultural  College  bonds,  formerly 
constituting  the  Agricultural  College  fund  under  the 
said  Acts  of  Congress,  and  the  Acts  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  State,  in  relation  to  the  same,  and 
heretofore  used  by  the  financial  agent  for  General 
State  purposes. 

Sixth — The  State  has  never  since  1879,  parted 
with  the  custody  of  any  of  the  principal  of  said  fund 
nor  has  its  management  been  intrusted  to  any  other 
person  or  persons. 

Seventh — As  stated  above  the  amount  of  the 
principal  fund  in  this  State  is  one  hundred  and  nine- 
ty-one thousand  eight  hundred  dollars.     (191,800.) 

Above  I  have  given  you  as  full  a  description  of  the 
fund  about  which  you  ask,  as  I  could  in  limits  of  this 
letter.  If  I  can  throw  any  further  light  on  the  sub- 
ject, I  will  be  pleased  to  attempt  to  do  so  if  you 
desire  it. 

Yours  respectfulh', 

E.  R.  McIVKR, 

State  Treasurer,  S.  C. 


62 

STATE  OF  KANSAS. 

OFFICE  OF  ATTORNEY  GENERAL. 

Topeka,  Sept.  25,    1889. 

Messrs.  Hai,lii)AV&  Finch,  22  E.  vState  St.,  Ithaca, 
N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  favor  of  tlie  12th  inst.  to 
the  State  Treasurer,  luakiuj;-  inquiries  as  to  the  man- 
agement of  the  i\gricultural  Land  Scrip  Fund  of  the 
State  of  Kansas,  was  by  him  referred  to  this  office. 

I  referred  the  same  to  Pres.  Geo.  T.  Fairchild,  of 
the  State  Agricultural  College,  and  he  has  furnished 
me  with  the  following  answers  which  I  adopt  and 
transmit  to  you  : 

First — I  know  of  no  judicial  decisions,  bearing 
upon  the  Act  of  Congress  named,  within  our  State 
except  upon  the  question  of  taxability  of  lands 
under  contract  for  purchase  but  not  yet  patented. 
Our  Courts  decided  that  sale  upon  contract  makes  the 
land  taxable  so  long  as  the  contract  is  valid. 

Second— The  Kansas  State  Agricultural  College 
created  by  Act  of  Legislature,  of  which  the  Board  of 
Regents  "appointed  by  the  Governor  with  the  advise 
and  consent  of  the  Senate,"  constitutes  the  body 
corporate. 

Third — The  fund  has  never  yet  earnerl  le.ss  than 
six  per  cent. 

Fourth — The  Legislature  appropriates  from  year 
to  year,  for  all  general  expenses  of  management, 
includingRegents,  expenses  and  salary,  and  incidental 
expenses  of  a  loan  commissioner,  appointed   by  the 


63 


Board  according  to    law.      Premiuiis  on     securities, 
if  paid,  come  from  the  income  produced. 

Fifth — All  in\-estments  have  been  in  Kansas  se- 
curities. August  31st  last,  the  fund  held  in  the  vState 
Treasury,  embraced  the  following  : 

School  district  bonds,  $270,669  22 

Other  municipal  bonds,  193,500  00 

Personal  contracts  for  land,       17,925  75 
Uninvested  balance,  19,331  36 


$501,426     7,^, 

Sixth — The  State  has  never  put  the  control  of 
this  fund  in  any  other  than  officers  of  the  State  ;  but 
it  has  made  different  officers  at  times  responsible  for 
its  safe  keeping  and  investment. 

Since  18S3,  the  fund  has  been  held  by  the  State 
Treasurer,  but  the  investment  is  under  the  control  of 
the  Board  of  Regents,  through  a  Loan  Commissioner 
and  a  Secretary  appointed  b\'  that  body. 

Prior  to  1883,  the  fund  it.self  was  for  many  years 
in  the  keeping  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of 
Regents. 

Seventh — $501,426.  33. 

Yours  respectfully, 

L.  B.  KELLOGC;, 

Attornev  Cxeneral. 


64 

TERRITORY  OF  DAKOTA. 

treasurer's  office. 

J.  M.  Bailey,  Jr.,  Treasurer. 

Bismarck,  Sept.  19,  1S89. 

JilESSRS.  Hallidav  &  FixcTi,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  circular  12th  iust.  received. 
The  Territory  has  no  title  as  yet  to  the  public  lands 
set  aside  for  donation,  and  so  far  as  I  can  find  there 
has  been  no  construction  of  the  laws  on  the  subject. 
I  send  this  mail  copies  of  the  constitutions,  to  be 
voted  on  next  month  which  contain  the  laws  that  we 
expect  will  govern  us  in  the  future,  except  where 
they  may  conflict  with  the  Acts  of  Congress. 

Respectfully  yours, 

J.  M.  BAILEY,  JR., 

Treasurer.      C. 

CON.STITL'TION    NORTH  DAKOTA. 

Sec.  159.  All  land,  money  or  other  property 
donated,  granted  or  received  from  the  United  States 
or  any  other  source,  for  a  University  School  of  Mines, 
Reform  School,  Agricultural  College,  Deaf  and  Dumb 
Asylum,  Normal  School  or  other  educational  or  char- 
itable institution  or  purpose,  and  the  proceeds  of  all 
such  lands  and  other  property  so  received  from  any 
source,  shall  be  and  remain  perpetual  funds,  the  in- 
terest and  income  of  which,  together  with  the  rents 
of  all  .such  lands  as  mav  remain  unsold,  shall  be  un- 


65 


violably  appropriated  and  applied  to  the  specific 
objects  of  original  grants  or  gifts.  The  principal  of 
every  snch  fund  may  be  increased  but  shall  never  be 
diminished,  and  the  interest  or  income  only  shall  be 
used.  Every  fund  shall  be  deemed  a  trust  fund  held 
by  the  State,  and  the  State  shall  make  good  all  losses 
thereof 

Constitution  South  Dakota. 

Sec.  7.  All  lands,  money  or  other  property 
donated,  granted  or  received  from  the  United  States 
or  auy  source  for  a  University,  Agricultural  College, 
Normal  Schools  or  other  educational  or  charitable 
institution  or  purpose,  and  the  proceeds  of  all  such 
lands  and  other  property  so  received  from  any  source, 
shall  be  and  remain  perpetual  funds,  the  interest  and 
income  of  which,  together  with  the  rents  of  all  such 
"^ands  as  may  remain  unsold,  shall  be  inviolably  ap- 
propriated and  applied  to  the  specific  object  of  the 
original  grants  or  gifts.  The  principal  of  every  such 
fund  may  be  increased,  but  shall  never  be  diminished, 
and  the  interest  and  income  only  shall  be  used.  Every 
such  fund  shall  be  deemed  a  trust  fund  held  by  the 
State,  and  the  State  shall  make  good  all  losses  there- 
from that  shall  in  anv  manner  occur. 


STATE  OF  MISSISSIPPI. 

TREASURY     DEPARTMENT. 

W.  L.  Hemingway,  State  Treasurer. 

Jacksou,  ]\Ii.ss. ,  Nov.  2,  1S89. 
Messrs.    Halliday  &  Finch,  Ithaca,  New  York. 

Gentlemen. — Answering  yours  of  the  26th  ul- 
timo, with  enclosed  circular  coutaiuing  seven  ques- 


66 


tions  touching-  tlie  A'^riciiltural  College  fund  of  Missis- 
sippi, under  Act  of  July  2nd,  1862  ;  its  management 
etc.,  I  will  say  : 

To  First  question — Two  of  our  Supreme  Judges, 
(Campbell  and  Cooper,)  say  None. 

To  Second  question — Alcorn  University  at  Rod- 
ney and  the  University  of  Mississippi,  at  Oxford 
Mississippi,  were  the  first  beneficiaries,  but  latterly 
the  former  under  the  name  of  The  Alcorn  A,  and  M. 
College,  and  the  Miss.  A.  and  M.  College,  at  Stork- 
ville,  Miss.,  became  beneficiary  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  University  of  Miss. 

To  Third  question — Yes,  besides  increasing  the 
interest  bearing  fund. 

To  Fourth  question — The  State  manages  the 
fund  without  scalage  for  expenses  etc. 

To  Fifth  question — The  Governor  got  207,920 
acres  Laud  Scrip,  and  in  1872,  sold  it  for  ^188,028.00. 
This  amount  is  the  principal  capital,  (as  we  construe 
the  4th  Sec,  Congressional  Act  of  July  2nd,  1862,) 
which  can  not  be  diminished  except  that  ten  per 
cent,  thereof  may  be  used  to  buy  lands  for  experi- 
ment stations.  It  was  invested  in  Miss.  8  per  cent, 
bonds  (purchased  at  a  discount)  in  1872,  and  (after 
paying  5  per  cent,  to  beneficiaries  annually,)  re-in- 
vested in  5  per  cent.  Mis.s.,  bonds,  Jan.  ist  '76. 
These  bonds  aggregate  $227, 150.00,  $15,000  of  which 
were  sold  in  1883,  to  buy  lands  for.  the  Miss.  A.  and 
M.  College  at  Storkville,  Miss.,  and  thus  the  interest 
bearing  fund  for  the  beneficiaries  is  $212,150.  The  5 
per  cent,  interest  thereon,  goes  annually  to  the  tzco 
beneficiaries.  However,  $13,000  was  expended  for 
lands  for  the  Alcorn  University,  prior  to  the  purchase 


67 


of  the  $227,150  in  1876  ;  the  same  being  part   of  the 
profit  of  the  first  investment. 

To  Sixth  question — A'o. 

To  Seventh  question — $188,028.     See  answer  to 
fourth  question. 


Noxri. — The  next  page  which   is   lost,    contained  nothing  it 
portant. 

S.  D.  H. 


STATE  OF  KENTUCKY. 
Office  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts. 
Frankfort,  October  29,  1889. 

Hallidav  &  FiN'CH,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  favor  of  26th  inst. ,  address- 
ed to  the  Treasurer,  has  been  handed  to  me  for 
answer,  which  I  do  in  the  order  of  yotir  questions  in 
circular  letter  enclosed  : 

There  has  never  been  any  judicial  determination 
or  construction  of  the  XcX.  in  qtiestion  in  this  State. 

The  Kentucky  University,  located  at  Lexington, 
is  the  beneficiar)'. 

The  amount  derived  from  the  sale  of  lands  was 
invested  partly  in  realty,  and  the  remainder,  $165,000, 
was  invested  in  State  Bonds,  w'hich  bcarsi.x  per  cent. 
The  State,  by  a  special  tax  of  one  half  cent  upon 
each  $100  of  valuation,  contributes  a  fund  of  about 
$25,000  per  year  to  this  institution. 


68 


There  is  no  charge  on  the  part  of  the  State  for 
the  expenses  of  management — or  commissions,  pre- 
miums etc., — of  this  fund.  The  management  of 
this  fund  is  in  the  hands  of  a  Board  of  Regents. 

The  bonds  in  which  the  money  is  invested  are  in 
the  custody  of  the  Auditor,  whose  duty  it  is  to  pay  at 
the  end  of  each  six  months  the  interest  falling  due. 

Anything  further  in  regard  to  this  matter,  I  will 
be  glad  to  answer  at  any  time. 

Yours  truly, 
FAYETTE  HEWITT, 

Auditor. 


TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 

STATE  OF  FLORIDA, 

treasurer's  office, 

Tallahassee,  October  29,  1889. 

Messrs.  Halliday  &  Finxh,  22    East  State  Street, 
Ithaca,  New  York. 

Dear  Sirs. — Replying  to  the  inquiries  contain- 
ed in  the  circular  enclosed  in  your  letter  of  the  26th 
inst.  ,1  will  say  : 

First — That  there  has  not  been  any  judicial  de- 
termination or  construction  by  the  courts  of  this 
State  of  the  Act  of  Congress,  donating  public  lands 
to  the  several  States  and  Territories,  which  may  pro- 
vide Colleges  for  the  benefit  of  Agriculture  and  the 
Mechanic  Arts. 


69 


Second — The  State  Agricultural  College  is  the 
beneficiary  of  the  fund  arising  from  the  sale  of  the 
lands  donated  by  the  Act  of  Congress  to  this  State. 

Third — The  fund  is  invested  in  State  bonds  and 
the  income  exceeds  5  per  cent.,  hence  no  question 
has  yet  been  raised  as  to  the  liability  of  the  State  to 
make  good  any  deficit  in  the  income  below  the  5  per 
cent,  contemplated  by  the  Act  of  Congress. 

Fourth — There  are  no  expenses  attached  to  the 
management,  superintendence,  etc.,  of  said  fund  in 
the  way  of  salary  or  commissions  to  a  Treasurer,  as 
the  State  Treasurer  is  the  Treasurer  of  the  fund  with- 
out compensation  of  any  kind.  Of  course  where 
bonds  are  purchased  for  the  fund,  whatever  premiums 
may  be  paid  is  charged  against  the  fund. 

Fifth — The  Agricultural  College  Fund  is  invest- 
ed as  follows  : 

Jan.  ist,  1S89.     Consolidated   Florida  6 

per   cent,   bond, $131,900  00 

Consolidated  Florida  7  per   cent,   bond,  3,900  00 

North  Carolina  6  per  cent,  bonds,  .    .    .  10,000  00 

North  Carolina  4  per  cent,  bonds,  .    .    .  8,000  00 

Note  secured  by  mortgage, 2,000  00 

Dec.  31,    Bonds  and  mortgage  in  fund  .     $155,800  00 

Sixth — The  entire  fund  is  held  in  trust  by  a 
Board  of  Trustees  of  which  the  State  Treasurer  is  a 
member,  and  he  is  the  Treasurer  of  said  Board.  All 
the  interest  arising  from  the  principal  of  said  fund  is 
applied  to  the  maintenance  of  the  State  Agricultural 
and  Mechanical  College. 


70 

Seventh — The  amount  of  the  principal   of  said 
fund  is  $155,800.00. 

I  am  very  truly, 

F.  J.  PONS, 

State  Treasurer, 


STATE  OF  GEORGIA. 

TREASURY    DEPARTMENT. 

R.  U.  Hardeman,  W.  J.  Speer,  Assistant. 

Alanta,  Ga.,  Oct.  31,  1889. 

Halliday  &  Finch,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Dear  Sirs. — Replying  to  yours  of  26th,  we  have 
never  had  any  judicial  determination  or  construction 
of  the  Act.  The  proceeds  from  sale  of  the  Land 
Scrip  donated  by  the  General  Government,  was  given 
to  the  State  University,  which  has  a  branch  of  Me- 
chanical Arts  and  department  of  Agriculture.  The 
State  pays  to  the  University  annually,  7  per  cent, 
interest  on  the  fund  arising  from  sale  of  the  Land 
Scrip  ;  the  amount  of  such  fund  is  $243,000.00,  and 
the  interest  paid  on  same  each  year  $17,000.00. 

Yours  truly 

R.  U.  HARDEMAN, 

H. 


71 

secretary's  office, 

IOWA  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 
Ames,  la.,  Jan.  25,    i8qo. 
Halliday  &  FixN'CH,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Dear  Sirs. — In  answer  to  your  favor  of  9th  inst., 
would  say  : 

First — The  Supreme  Court  of  Iowa  has  decided 
that  since  the  State  would  be  called  upon  to  pay  taxes 
on  the  land  derived  under  the  Congressional  Act,  said 
lands  are  non-taxable  even  when  leased  with  the 
right  of  purchase.  No  other  decisions  bearing  on  the 
law. 

Second — All  of  the  fund  goes  to  the  Iowa  State 
Agricultural  College. 

Third — The  College  has  always  been  able  to 
realize  more  than  five  per  cent,  on  its  investment. 
Congress  passed  a  special  Act  by  which  Iowa  is  allow- 
ed to  invest  the  fund  in  farm  mortgages. 

Fourth — In  the  loaning  of  the  endowment  fund, 
the  State  pays  the  salary  and  expenses  of  the  agent. 
(See  Sec.  6  page  8  of  pamphlet. )  Under  the  expense 
clause,  the  Auditor  of  State  has  so  far  allowed  and 
paid  all  of  the  expenses  of  the  office,  including  ex- 
change, recording  of  mortgages  and  releases,  fore- 
closure of  mortgages,  etc. 

The  State  appropriates  $1,000  annually  for  the 
repair  of  buildings  and  for  necessary  expenses  incurr- 
ed in  the  management  of  College  Lands.  (See  Sec.  i. 
Chapter  67  on  page  13  of  pamphlet).  Yon  will  notice 
that  the  law  in  relation  to  the  management  of  the 
laud  department  found  on  page  9  of  pamphlet,  does 
not  provide  for  the  payment  of  salary  of  laud  agent. 


72 


The  Board  of  Trustees  allows  the  agent  to  charge 
the  leasee  fees  as  follows  :  $14  for  making  lease  ;  $1 
per  annum  for  collecting  rental  ;  and  $2  for  procuring 
patent.  This  method  is  recognized  by  all  as  in  con- 
flict with  the  law,  but  it  seems  necessary  since  the 
State  has  made  no  provision  for  meeting  its  obliga- 
tion in  this  case.  In  enacting  a  new  law,  the  Legis- 
lature would  probably  provide  for  the  payment  of 
salary  of  land  agent  from  the  General  State  Fund, 
as  it  kas  done  in  the  case  of  the  financial  agent  who 
negotiates  loans.  All  expenses  of  the  land  depart- 
ment other  than  salary  of  agent,  are  paid  from  the 
$1,000  annual  appropriation  mentioned  above. 

Fifth — The  enclosed  statement  marked  Exhibit 
"A"  will  show  you  how  the  funds  of  the  College  are 
invested. 

Sixth — No  sir. 

Seventh — The   endowment   of    the    College    as 
shown    in  Exhibit    "A"  is  $649,396.16.      This  fund 
has  been  derived  from  the  following  sources  : 
From  the  Congressional  land  grant,    .      $582,716  65 
From  transfer  and  investment  of  interest 

fund, 66,679  51 

$649,396  16 
I  send  you  pamphlet  containing  laws  relating  to 
the  management  of  the  endowment  fund.  As  soon  as 
our  bi-ennial  report  is  issued, — which  will  be  in  a 
few  days — I  will  send  you  copy.  It  will  give  full 
statement  in  regard  to  all  of  the  College  Funds. 

When  the  suit  you  mention  is  decided  we  shall 
be  pleased  to  be  informed  as  to  the  result. 

Very  truh-  yours, 
E.  W.  STANTOX,  Secretarv. 


I?, 

Exhibit  A. 

The  following  statement  shows  the  condition  of 
the  lands  and  fnnds  which  constitute  the  endowment 
of  the  College  : 

Land  under  lease,  85,724.89  acres  .    .    .  $278,28705 

Land  not  under  lease,  2,319.94  acres  .  .  io,395  25 
Proceeds   of  sales    of  endowment    fund 

land 32L473  ^6 

Proceeds  of  sales  of  land  purchased  with 

interest  money 20,640  00 

Amount  transferred  from   interest   fund  18,600  00 

Total  endowment  fund $649,396  16 

The  lands  and  funds  )ielding  income  are  as 
follows  : 

Land  under  lease,  eight  per  cent,  pay- 
able in  advance  with  option  of  i)ur- 
chase  or  renewal  of  lease  at  original 
appraisment $278,287  05 

Amount  invested   in    bonds    at   six    per 

cent 5>500  00 

Amount  invested  in  farm  mortgages    at 

eight  per  cent 238,500  00 

Amount  invested  in  farm   mortgages  at 

seven  per  cent 101,665  00 

Total  investments $623,952  05 

The  lands  and  funds  not  yielding  income  are  as 
follows  : 

Lands  not  yielding  income -'^'")395  ~5 


74 


Cash  in  hands  of  State  Treasurer  await- 
ing investment ^>473  86 

Cash  in  hands  of  financial  agent  await- 
ing investment 6,500  00 

Cash    in    hands   of    College    Treasurer, 

awaiting  investment 75  00 

Total  amount  uninvested $25,444  ir 


STATE  OF  MINNESOTA. 

auditor's  office,  land  department. 

St.  Paul,  Jan.  18,    1890. 

Halliday  &  Finch,    22    East    State    Street,  Ithaca, 
N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  circular  letter  of  Sept.  12, 
1889,  directed  to  our  State  Treasurer,  has  been  placed 
in  my  hands  for  answer.  I  will  endeavor  to  answer 
each  proposition  or  interrogatory  by  itself. 

As  to  the  First — I  answer  no. 

Second — Our  State  University. 

Third — Our  fund  draws  interest  at  41],  5  and  7 
per  cent.,  aggregating  over  5  per  cent.,  con.sequently 
the  question  of  making  up  deficiency  not  raised. 

Fourth — All  expenses  paid  out  of  Statr  Revenue 
Fund. 


75 

Fifth — Lands  sold  on  30  years  time,  contracts 
drawing  7  per  cent,  and  5  per  cent.,  also  some  Min- 
nesota State  Bonds,  drawiiio-  4'/.  per  cent. 

Sixth— No. 

vSeventh — $526,837.96. 

Lands  )iot  all  sold. 

Yonrs  trnly, 

W.  W.  BRA  DEN, 

Anditor. 


DELAWARE  COLLEGE. 

Beantifnl  and  Healthful  Location. 

Five  Full  Courses  of  Study. — Cla.ssical,  Latin-Scien- 
tific, Scientific,  Engineering  and  Agricultural. 

Dr.  A.  N.  Raub,  President. 

Newark,  Del.,  Feb.  10,  1890. 
Messrs.  Hallidav  &  P'ixch. 

Dear  Sirs. — The  enclosed  circular  has  fiually 
drifted  into  my  hands.  I  will  answer,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, the  questious  in  the  order  given. 

First — I  think  there  has  been  no  judicial  con- 
struction of  the  Act  in  this  State. 

Second — Delaware  College. 

Third — The  State  pays  the  College  6  per  cent., 
as  the  money  received  for  the  Land  Scrip  is  invested 
in  6  per  ceut  State  bouds. 


76 


Fourth — There  are  no  expenses  of  management, 
etc.,  as  the  State  Treasurer  simply  pays  to  the  Col- 
lege Treasurer,  the  interest  semi-annually. 

Fifth — Answered  in  third. 
Sixth — Xo  ;  no. 


I\IARYLAXD  AGRICULTURAL  COLLEGE. 

president's  office. 

Agricultural  College  P.  O.,  Md.,  Feb.  22,  1890. 

Messrs.  Hallidav  &  Finch,  Attorneys   for  Cornell 
University  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Gentlemen. — Your  letter  of  yesterday  received. 
I  take  pleasure  in  replying  to  your  circular  letter  of 
Sept.  12,  1888,  and  would  have  done  so  long  ago  had 
that  been  addressed  to  the  College  or  to  me. 

First — Xo  judicial  determination  or  construction 
in  Md.  of  the  Morrill  Act  of  July  2,  '62. 

Second — The  Maryland  Agricultural  College,  an 
institution  chartered  in  1856,  and  put  into  operation 
in  1858,  its  foundation  and  funds  privately  con- 
tributed. 

Third — Xo.  College  receives  what  the  fund 
earns,  but  it  is  actually  over  5  per  cent. 

Fourth — Yes,  thus  far  the  fund  has  not  been  tax- 
ed or  burdened  with  expenses. 

Fifth — 210,000  acres  of  Land  Scrip  sold  for 
$112,504,    (always  invested   in  U.    S.    and  Md.    State 


Bonds,  etc.)  Present  investment  of  tlie  fund  at  face 
value  ;  $88,800.  Ball  City  6  per  cent.  Bonds  ;  $27,143. 
Md.  State  Loan,  (a;  3  per  cent.  Total  face  value 
$115,943.     Income  $6, 142.29.     (Over  5  per  cent.) 

Sixth — Never,  State  Board  of  Public  Works, 
Trustees  of  the  Agricultural  College  F'und, 

Seventh — As  above,  $115,943. 

I  shall  highly  prize  the  pamphlet  you  mention  as 
in  press. 

Very  respectfully  \-ours, 

HENRY  E.  ALVORD, 

President,  etc. 


COMMONWEALTH  OF  VIRGINL\. 
departmp:nt  of  public  instruction. 

400  N.   Twelfth  Street, 
Richmond,  October  31,  1889. 

Messrs.  Halliix\v&  Fin-cii,  22  E.  State  St.,  Ithaca, 
New  York. 

Gentlkmex. — Your  letter  addressed  to  the 
Treasurer  of  the  State  of  Va.,  has  been  referred  to 
me.  The  following  answers  to  the  questions  are  from 
reliable  data  : 

First — No. 

Second — The  \'a.  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
College,  Blackburg,  Va.,  for  white  students,  receives 
two-thirds  of  the  income  ;  the  Hampton  Normal  and 
Agricultural  Institute  for  colored,  one-third. 


78 


Third — Yes  and  more. 

Fourth — The  Va.  Agricultural  and  IMechanical 
College  is  supported  entirely  out  of  the  income  from 
the  Land  Scrip  Fund.  There  are  no  commissions  or 
premiums  on  securities.  State  Funds  have  been  ap- 
propriated from  time  to  time  for  equipments,  build- 
ings, etc.  x\s  many  as  200  Va.  students  can  be  ad- 
mitted free  of  tuition.  The  Hampton  School  is  ex- 
pending now  about  $100,000  per  year;  its  income 
from  the  Land  Scrip  Fund  is  a  little  over  $10,000 
annually. 

Fifth — The  300,000  acres  of  land  falling  to  Va., 
was  sold  at  95  cts.  per  acre,  yielding  $285,000.  About 
10  per  cent,  of  this  was  expended  in  the  purchase  of 
a  College  farm,  and  in  the  erection  of  buildings. 
The  balance  was  invested  in  Va.  State  Bonds  at  about 
50  cts.  on  the  dollar.  The  face  value  of  the  bonds 
thus  purchased,  is  a  little  over  $500,000.  On  the  face 
value  of  these  bonds  the  State  has  uniformly  paid  6 
per  cent,  interest,  so  that  the  income  to  the  two  insti- 
tutions, is  nearly  $31,000  annually.  Thus  the 
amount  realized  from  the  Land  Scrip,  deducting  the 
10  per  cent,  expended  on  grounds  and  buildings,  is 
about  12  per  cent. 

Sixth — No.  The  fund  is  managed  by  a  Board  of 
Visitors  of  each  School.  The  Board  of  the  Va.  A. 
and  M.  College  appointed  wholly  by  the  Governor  of 
the  State ;  a  part  of  the  Board  of  the  Hampton 
School  are  also  appointed  by  the  Governor. 

Seventh — This  question  is  answered  above. 


Ver)-  truly  yours, 

JNO.  L.  BUCHANAN, 

Sup't  Public  Instruction. 


TULANE  UNIVERSITY  OF  LOUISIANA. 
New  Orleans,  Feb.  26,  1890. 
Messrs.  Halliday  &  Finx'h, 

Gentlemen. — Your  letter  has  been  received.  I 
send  you  a  report  made  by  me  when  I  was  President 
of  the  La.  State  University,  which  will  give  you 
much  (most)  of  the  information  on  the  subject.  The 
fund  continues  now  as  it  was  then.  It  is  a  debt  on 
the  books  of  the  State.  There  have  been  one  or  two 
suits,  but  I  do  not  think  they  touched  any  point  that 
would  interest  you. 
^  The  defalcation  of  the  late  Treasurer,  E.  A. 
Burke,  or  rather  his  inibezzlement  of  bonds,  consisted 
in  part  in  a  reissue  of  the  bonds  of  the  A.  &  M.  Col- 
lege, which  were  ordered  to  be  destroyed.  They 
had,  however,  been  taken  up  by  the  State,  and  do 
not  in  anywise  affect  the  book  debt  due  by  the  State 
to  the  La.  State  University  and  A.  &  M.  College. 

If  there  is  any  matter  on  which  you  wish  fuller 
information,  it  will  give  me  pleasure  to  investigate  it 
for  you.  You  might  also  drop  a  line  to  President  J. 
W.  Nicholson,  Baton  Rouge,  La.,  who,  I  do  not 
doubt,  will  give  }ou  the  most  recent  information. 

The  Hon.  Joseph  A.  Breaux,  New  Iberia,  La.,  is 
Supt.  of  Public    Education,  and    an    e.x'  officio   (and 
active)  member  of  the  Board  of  Super\isors. 
I  am  Very  Truly  Yours, 

WM.  PRESTON  JOHNSTON. 


Note.— The  "  Report"  referred  to  in  the  forej^oiiig  communi- 
cation contained  no  statistical  information  of  importance  except 
that  the  funds  in  Louisiana  produced  an  increase  of  i^  14. 555-65. 

S.  D.  H. 


8o 


NEW  JERSEY. 

No  responses  have  been  received  from  several 
communications  addressed  lo  various  officers  and  in- 
dividuals in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  but  the  in- 
formation sought  for  is  contained  in  the  following 
quotation  from  the  report  of  1888,  to  the  governor  by 
John  DeMott,  President  of  the  State  Agricultural 
College  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

"In  regard  to  the  United  States  Government 
Appropriation  it  should  be  observed  that  only  scrip 
for  public  lands  was  appropriated. 

No  State  was  allowed  to  hold  land  in  any  other 
State  ;  and  as  a  consequence  the  scrip  had  to  be  sold, 
leaving  the  expenses  of  locating  it  with  the  pur- 
chaser. This  took  a  large  share  of  its  regular  price 
of  $1.25  per  acre.  In  fact,  the  New  Jersey  State 
Commissioners  were  obliged  to  sell  it  for  less  than 
half  of  that  price,  the  210,000  acres  of  Land  Scrip 
only  producing  a  fund  of  $116,000.  This  was  in- 
vested in  State  Bonds,  and  the  annual  interest,  $6,- 
960,  is  all  the  income  it  yields,  and  this  is  the  sum 
that  is  annually  paid  to  the  Trustees  of  Rutger's  Col- 
lege for  the  support  of  teachers  in  the  New  Jersey 
State  Agricultural  College,  the  State  itself  having 
added  nothing  to  the  fund  or  its  annual  income." 

By  Section  2  of  an  Act  of  that  State,  approved 
April  13th,  1864,  all  the  expenses  of  management  are 
directed  to  be  paid  out  of  the  general  funds  of  the 
State. 

S.  D.  H. 


8i 

NEW  YORK  COURT  OF  APPEALS. 


JANUARY     14,     1890. 


The  People,  cx  rel.,  Cornell  University,  Appellant, 
V.  Ira  Davenport,  Comptroller,  &c.,  Res- 
pondent. 

OPINION. 

This  is  a  case  agreed  npon  in  a  controversy  sub- 
mitted without  action.  In  such  submission  the  fol- 
lowing are  the  material  facts  :  On  the  second  day  of 
July,  1862,  the  United  States  Congress  passed  an  act 
donating  public  lands  to  the  several  states  and  terri- 
tories which  might  provide  colleges  for  the  benefit  of 
agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts.  By  such  act  an 
amount  of  public  land  was  apportioned  to  each  state 
equal  to  thirty  thousand  acres  for  each  senator  and 
representative  in  Congress  to  which  the  state  might 
be  entitled,  and  this  land  was  apportioned,  as  was 
stated  in  the  act,  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  and 
the  mechanic  arts.  This  laud  was  to  be  sold  b\-  the 
state  seceiving  it  and  the  moneys  which  were  received 
as  the  purchase  price  of  such  sale,  were  to  be  invest- 
ed by  the  state  in  stocks  of  the  United  States,  or  of 
this  state,  or  in  some  other  safe  stocks  yielding  not 
less  than  five  per  cent,  per  annum  upon  the  par  value 
of  said  stock,  and  the  moneys  so  in\'ested  were  to 
constitute  a  perpetual  fund,  the  capital  of  which  was 
to  remain  forever  undiminished,  and  the  interest  of 
which  was  to  be  by  the  terms  of  the  act  inviolably 
appropriated  to  the  endowment,  support  and  mainte- 
nance of  at  least  one  college    where  the  leading  ob- 


82 


ject  should  be  to  teach  such  branches  of  learning  as 
relate  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  in  such 
manner  as  the  legislatures  of  the  states  might  re- 
spectively prescribe,  in  order  to  promote  the  liberal 
and  practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes  in 
the  several  pursuits  and  professions  in  life. 

By  the  third  section  of  the  act  it  was  enacted 
that  all  the  expenses  of  management,  superintend- 
ence, and  taxes  of  the  date  of  selection  of  said 
lands  previous  to  sale,  and  all  expenses  incurred  in 
the  management  and  disbursements  of  the  mone>s 
which  might  be  received  therefrom,  should  be  paid 
by  the  states  to  which  the  lands  belonged  out  of  the 
treasury  of  such  states,  ''so  that  the  entire  proceeds 
of  the  sale  of  said  lands  shall  be  applied  without  any 
diminution  whatever  to  the  purposes  hereinafter 
mentioned." 

The  grant  of  the  land  by  the  Congress,  under  the 
act  above  mentioned,  was  in  and  by  section  five  of 
such  act,  made  on  the  conditions  stated  therein,  and 
provided  that  "the  previous  assent  of  the  several 
states  shall  be  signified  by  legislative  acts."  Among 
those  conditions  was  one  which  provided  that  if  anv 
portion  of  the  fund  invested  or  any  portion  of  the  in- 
terest thereon,  should  b}-  any  action  or  contingencv 
be  diminished  or  lost,  it  should  be  replaced  by  the 
state  to  which  it  belonged,  so  that  the  capital  of  the 
fund  should  rcuiain  forever  inidiminished  :  and  the 
annual  interest  should  be  regularly  applied,  without 
diminution  to  the  purposes  mentioned  in  the  act.  It 
was  also  provided  that  no  state  should  be  entitled  to 
the  benefits  of  the  act,  unless  it  should  express  its 
acceptance  thereof  by  its  legislature  within  two  years 
from  the  date  of  its  approval  by  the  president. 


83 


On  the  third  of  May,  1863,  the  legislature  of  the 
state  of  New  York  passed  an  act  (chap.  460,  Laws  of 
1863)  entitled  "an  act  relative  to  the  lands  granted  to 
this  state  by  the  act  of  Congress  entitled  "  An  act  do- 
nating public  lands  to  the  several  states  and  territor- 
ies which  might  provide  colleges  for  the  benefit  of  ag- 
riculture and  the  mechanic  arts/'  approved  July, 
1862,  and  the  sale  thereof  and  the  investment  of  the 
proceeds  of  such  sales."  By  section  one  of  this  act 
the  Comptroller  of  the  state  was  authorized  to  receive 
from  the  authorities  of  the  United  States  the  land 
scrip  ^  be  issued  for  the  lands  granted  to  the  state  by 
the  act  of  Congress  above  mentioned,  and  the  Comp- 
troller was  to  give  all  necessary  receipts  and  acknowl- 
edgments for  the  scrip  which  might  be  so  received  by 
him.  By  the  second  section  the  Comptroller  was  au- 
thorized, with  the  approval  of  the  officers  named 
therein,  from  time  to  time,  as  he  might  deem  proper, 
to  sell  the  said  land  scrip,  or  any  part  thereof,  for 
cash,  or  for  stocks  of  the  United  States,  or  of  the 
states,  or  some  other  safe  stocks,  yielding  not  less  than 
five  per  cent,  upon  the  par  value  of  said  stocks,  and 
to  execute  all  necessary  and  proper  transfers  thereof. 

By  section  third  of  the  act  the  Treasurer  was 
authorized  to  pay  on  the  warrant  of  the  Comptroller 
out  of  any  moneys  in  the  treasury,  not  otherwise  ap- 
propriated, all  the  expenses  of  management  and  sup- 
erintendence, and  taxes,  if  any,  from  the  selection  of 
said  lands  previously  to  their  sale  ;  and  also  all  ex- 
penses incurred  in  the  management  and  disbursement 
of  the  moneys  which  might  be  received  therefrom, 
and  of  all  incidental  matters  connected  with  or  aris- 
ing out  of  the  care,  management  and  sale  of  the  said 
lands  ;  so  that   the  entire  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  said 


84 


lands  should  be  applied,  without  any  diminution  wliat- 
ever,  to  the  purposes  mentioned  in  the  said  act  of 
Congress.  Provision  was  made  by  the  fourth  section 
for  investing  the  moneys  which  might  be  received  on 
the  sale  of  the  said  lands  or  land  scrip,  in  stocks  of 
the  United  States,  or  of  this  state,  or  in  some  other 
safe  stocks  yielding  not  less  than  fi\e  per  centum  per 
annum  on  the  par  value  of  said  stocks  ;  and  the  mon- 
ey so  invested  was  to  constitute  a  perpetual  fund,  the 
capital  of  which  should  remain  forever  undiminished, 
except  as  provided  for  in  and  by  the  said  act  of  Con- 
gress. 

Subsequent  to  the  passage  of  this  state  statute 
and  on  the  27th  day  of  April,  1865,  the  legislature 
passed  an  act  to  establish  the  Cornell  University  and 
to  appropriate  to  it  the  income  of  the  sale  of  public 
lands  granted  to  this  state  by  Congress  on  the  second 
day  of  July,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-two,  also  to 
restrict  the  operation  of  chapter  five  hundred  and 
eleven  of  the  laws  of  eighteen  hundred  and  sixtv- 
three. 

By  the  sixth  section  of  such  act  it  was  provided 
that  the  income,  revenue  and  avails  which  .should  be 
received  from  the  investments  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  of  the  lands,  or  of  the  scrip  therefor,  or  any  part 
thereof  granted  to  this  state  by  the  act  of  Congress 
(above  mentioned)  were  thereby  appropriated  to,  and 
should  from  time  to  time,  as  the  same  might  be  re- 
ceived, be  paid  over  to  the  trustees  of  the  Cornell  Uni- 
versity, for  its  use  and  behoof,  in  the  mode  and  for  the 
purposes  defined  in  said  act  of  Congress. 

By  the  tenth  section  of  the  act,  all  payments 
made  under  the  act  out  of  the  treasury  of  the  state, 
were  to  be  made  by  the   treasurer  on  the  warrant  of 


85 


the  Comptroller  out  of  the  special  fund  on  deposit 
with  the  treasurer,  arising-  from  the  receipt  of  the  in- 
come, and  revenue,  and  avails  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  the  lands  or  of  the  scrip  already  mentioned. 

The  University  thus  incorporated,  and  to  which 
the  avails  of  the  sales  of  the  lands  and  scrip  above 
mentioned  were  to  be  paid,  was  also  in  and  by  the 
ninth  section  of  the  act  compelled  to  annually  receive 
students,  one  from  each  assembly  district  of  the  state, 
to  be  selectecl  as  provided  in  the  act,  and  was  to  give 
them  instruction  in  any  or  in  all  the  prescribed 
branches  of  study,  in  any  department  of  said  institu- 
tion, free  of  any  tuition  fee  or  any  incidental  charges 
to  be  paid  to  said  University. 

By  virtue  of  the  acts  above  mentioned,  and  by 
compliance  with  the  terms  and  conditions  named 
therein,  the  relator,  the  Cornell  University,  became, 
and  ever  since  has  been,  arid  now  is  the  sole  benefi- 
ciary of  the  trust  created  by  the  act  of  Congress,  and 
the  act  of  the  state  accepting  the  same,  and  as  such 
is  entitled  to  the  benefits  derivable  therefrom.  In 
i88r,  the  principal  of  the  trust  fund  above  mentioned 
became  settled  and  fixed  at  ^473,402.87,  and  is  desig- 
ignated  and  known  as  the  college  land  scrip  fund.  In 
that  year  and  by  chapter  185  of  the  laws  of  that  sea- 
son, the  legislature  "appropriated  $25,000  to  Cornell 
University  payable  from  the  college  land  scrip  fund  ; 
the  language  and  form  of  the  clause  in  said  act  mak- 
ing such  appropriation  as  follows  : 

"Payable  fro.m  the  College  Land  Scrip  Fund. 
Revenue. 

For  the  Cornell  University,  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars." 


86 


And  in  1882,  chapter  270,  there  was  appropriated 
as  follows  : 

"Payable  from  the  Land  Scrip  Fund. 
Revenue. 

For  the  Cornell  University,  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars."     *     *     *     * 

The  following  is  a  correct  statement  in  regard  to 
the  college  land  scrip  fund,  and  its  income  or  revenue 
from  and  including  October  ist,  1881,  to  February 
loth,  1883,  hs  shown  by  the  books  and  records  of  the 
office  of  the  Comptroller  of  the  State  of  New  York  : 

Principal  sum $473,402  87 

Balance  of  revenue  in  the  treas- 
ury October  i,  1881  ....  3,203  47 

Total  income  during  the  fiscal 

year  ending  Sept.  30,  1882  .  20.074  27 


Total  revenue  available  during 
fiscal  year  ending  Sept.   30, 

1882 $23,277  76 

There  is  charged  as  payment 
from  that  fund  during  that 
time  to    Cornell    University, 

$18,700.00 

For  premium  and  in- 
terest on  U.  S. 
bonds     purchased,    721.08 

19,421   08 


87 


Leaving  a   balance  of  revenue 

in  treasury  Oct.  ist,  1882.    .         $3,856  66 
The   above   item   of  $721.08  for  "  premium  and 
interest"  is  made  up  as  follows  : 

Premiums $718  61 

Interest  accrued 2  47 

$721  08 

On  the  first  day  of  October,  1882,  there  was  to 
the  credit  or  the  principal  of  the  college  land  scrip 
fund  the  sum  of  $262,309.  12  uninvested,  and  on  the 
2d  and  loth  days  of  said  month  the  Comptroller  pur- 
chased $200,000  of  United  States  four  per  cent,  bonds 
paying  therefor  out  of  this  fund  the  sum  of  $238,- 
394.81,  including  premiums,  interest  and  commis- 
sions. 

Of  this  amount  ($238,394.81),  $200,000  is  charged 
as  a  payment  out  of  the  principal  fund,  and  the  bal- 
ance, viz  :  $38,394.81,  is  charged  as  a  payment  out  of 
the  revenue  account.  At  the  time  of  making  this 
last  charge  there  was  standing  to  the  credit  of  the 
revenue  account  of  this  fund  only  the  sum  of  $3,901.- 
66,  and  after  making  such  charge  the  revenue  account 
stood  on  the  books  of  the  Comptroller  as  overdrawn 
to  the  amount  of  $34,493. 15. 

Since  the  purchase  of  said  bonds  and  the  making 
of  the  above  charge  against  the  revenue  account  there 
has  been  paid  in  as  interest  and  put  to  the  credit  of 
the  revenue  account  of  said  fund  the  sum  of  $7,280.- 
76  ;  and  there  has  been  invested  in  purchase  of  three 
and  one-half  per  cent.  Albany  county  bonds  $10,000 
of  principal  at  a  cost  to  the  revenue  account  of  $116.- 
66  for  accrued  interest,  and  $200  for  premium,  leaving 
the  account  at  this  date,  viz  :   F'ebruary   loth,  1883, 


88 


still  overdrawn    to    the   amount    of  $27,529.05,    and 
capital  uninvested  $52,309.12. 

The  item  of  $38,394.81  paid  in  October,  1882,  for 
interest,  premiums  and  commissions,  is  made  up  as 
follows  : 

Interest  accrued $     131-51 

Premiums 38,013.30 

Commissions 250.00 


^3^,3'J4-8r 


The  Comptroller  declines  to  make  any  further 
payments  to  Cornell  University  from  the  revenue  al- 
ready received,  and  hereby  declares  his  intention  and 
future  policy  to  be,  not  to  make  any  payments  to  the 
University  from  the  future  income  of  said  trust  fund 
until  after  the  revenue  therefrom  .shall  have  first  made 
good  the  revenue  account  for  the  drafts  made  upon  it 
as  stated  above  for  interest,  premiums  and  connnis- 
sions  on  investments  already  made.        *         *         * 

The  investments,  and  each  and  all  of  them,  made 
by  the  Comptroller  of  said  fund  were  the  best  invest- 
ments that  could  be  made  by  him  of  the  moneys  so 
invested  and  the  same  draw  the  most  revenue  obtain- 
able therefrom.  *         *         * 

It  is  claimed  on  behalf  of  the  relator  that  it  is  in 
any  event  annually  entitled  to  five  per  cent,  income 
on  the  principal  fund  whether  the  fund  actually  earns 
that  amount  or  not,  and  as  much  more  as  the  fund 
actually  does  earn. 

The  relief  sought  is  peremptory  mandamus  di- 
recting the  Comptroller  to  draw  his  warrant  on  the 
treasurer  for  $28,640.29  payable  out  of    the  college 


89 


land  scrip  fund  to  the  relator,  said  sum  being  five 
per  ceutuni  upon  the  whole  capital  for  the  two  years 
ending  September  30,  1883,  less  $18,700  paid  the  re- 
lator during  the  fiscal  year  ending  September  30,  1882. 

The  Special  Term  denied  a  motion  for  a  man- 
damus and  from  that  order  the  relator  appealed  to  the 
General  Term.  That  court  modified  the  order  of  the 
Special  Term  and  granted  the  motion  for  a  man- 
damus, directing  the  Comptroller  to  deduct  out  of 
the  incom^  received  by  him  a  sum  made  up  upon  this 
principle  :  a  certain  amount  of  the  annual  income  was 
to  be  retained  by  the  Comptroller  and  placed  at  inter- 
est, so  that  by  the  time  the  principal  of  the  bonds  re- 
presenting the  investment  became  due,  there  would 
be  in  his  hands,  arising  from  this  sinking  fund,  a  sum 
sufficient  to  make  the  revenue  account  good  for  the 
amount  that  had  been  taken  from  it  in  payment  of 
the  premium  upon  the  bonds  purchased  by  him,  the 
balance  of  the  amount  was  to  be  annually  paid  to  the 
University. 

The  relator  insisting  upon  its  claim  to  be  paid  the 
amount  of  at  least  five  per  cent,  on  the  principal  sum 
of  $473,402.87,  has  appealed  from  the  determination 
of  the  General  Term  to  this  court. 

S.  D.  H  ALU  DAY, 

For  App'lt. 

CHAS.  F.  TABOR, 

Atty.  Gen'l  for  RespUs. 


90 


Peckham,  J. 


We  agree  with  the  learned  General  Term  that  in 
deciding  this  case  we  are  to  be  gnided  by  the  stat- 
utes of  our  own  state,  and  if  under  those  statutes  the 
Comptroller  was  not  authorized  to  make  the  payment 
as  demanded  by  the  relator,  he  was  justified  in  his 
refusal,  even  though  the  State  had  failed  to  comply 
with  the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  act  of  Congress 
donating  the  land  to  it.  That  would  be  a  matter  be- 
tween the  Federal  government  and  the  state,  which 
the  Comptroller  would  have  no  right  to  decide  for 
himself.  The  view  taken  by  the  learned  judge  who 
wrote  the  opinion  at  the  General  Term,  would,  we 
think,  apply  with  great  force  to  the  ordinary  case  as 
between  tenant  for  life  and  remaindennan  of  a  fund 
to  be  invested  in  the  ordinary  way  of  trust  funds. 
Such  is  the  case  assumed  by  him  and  such  are  the 
principles  laid  down  in  Farwell  v.  Tweddle  (lo  Ab. 
N.  C.  94)- 

In  construing  the  meaning  of  the  word  "reve- 
nue" as  used  in  the  appropriation  acts  of  1881  and 
1882,  already  quoted,  other  facts  than  the  mere  ap- 
propriation of  money  may  be  regarded,  and  it  is  pro- 
per not  only  to  look  at  the  previous  state  statutes 
passed  upon  the  subject  of  the  land  grant  of  Congress 
and  its  acceptance  by  legislative  action,  but  also  to 
carefully  read  the  act  of  Congress  donating  the  land, 
as  that  act  is  the  foundation  upon  which  all  our  state 
statutes  upon  the  subject  are  based.  This  may  be 
done  for  the  purpose  of  determining  what  was  the 
true  intent  of  the  legislature  when  it  appropriated 
these  simis  from  the  "revenues"  of  the  trust  fund. 
The  clear  purpose  of  the  act  of  Congress  can  not  be 
mistaken.      It  was  to  provide  a  fund  from  the  sale  of 


91 


the  public  lands  or  of  the  land  scrip,  of  which  the 
state  should  be  the  trustee  and  the  safety  of  which 
should  be  guaranteed  by  it,  and  the  whole  interest  of 
the  principal  sum  was  to  be  used  for  the  purposes 
mentioned  in  the  act,  without  the  deduction  of  any 
costs,  charges,  or  expenses  of  any  name  or  nature. 
The  whole  actual  earning  of  the  fund  was  to  be  used 
for  this  purpose,  and  all  expenses  of  management  or 
disbursements  were  to  be  paid  by  the  state  which  re- 
ceived th^  donation,  so  that  in  the  language  of  the 
Federal  legislature,  "the  entire  proceeds  of  the  sale 
of  said  lands  shall  be  applied  without  any  diminution 
whatever  to  the  purposes"  thereinafter  mentioned. 
With  this  legislation  of  Congress  thus  plainly  set 
forth  in  the  act  of  donation,  the  state  by  accepting 
the  donation  by  legislative  act,  took  upon  itself  to 
comply  and  it  has  assented  to  the  terms  and  condi- 
tions of  the  act,  upon  which  the  donation  was  made. 
In  the  first  act  of  the  legislature  upon  this  subject,  it 
provided  that  the  treasurer,  on  the  warrant  of  the 
Comptroller,  should  from  time  to  time  pay,  out  of 
any  moneys  in  the  treasury  not  otherwise  appropriat- 
ed, all  the  expenses  of  management,  and  superintend- 
ence, and  taxes,  if  any,  from  the  selection  of  said 
lands  previous  to  their  sale  ;  and  all  expenses  incurred 
in  the  management  and  disbursement  of  the  moneys 
which  might  be  received  therefrom,  and  of  all  inci- 
dental matters  connected  with  or  arising  out  of  the 
care,  management  and  sale  of  the  said  lands  ;  so  that 
the  ^\\\\x^  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  said  lands  should  be 
applied,  without  any  diminutiomchatever^  to  the  pur- 
poses mentioned  in  said  act  of  Congress." 

This  language  is  plain,  and  it  shows  the  legisla- 
tive intent  to  fully  comply   with   the  conditions  con- 


-rnTirg^T  :m 


^^jcs>;c  0 


uv>- 


ei  o£  tins  trc^c  r"-io„    ".'- 
-e-tiTced.  iH'i  "fy  '.s  k',,  - 

a^  , -,2r-.  c;:--i:-".irAnou  ttr  its  vK<^ 

mtet4s:o2  -.■-■;5  mui.  it  hid  iWvH>iix'-»  th->!  tl>c  V»^ 

5itv  should  annnallv  re>x-i«  onel»»>vlKa  <u.a  twvivly 

ei<^ht    smdents,    that    is   o«^   fivu.   c.kI.    a«.«».Wx 

district,  ^ho should  be  gratuitouslv  iustiiK-u-d  l>v  ,i  i« 

anv  or  in  all  the  prescribed  bnu.cl.cs  of  M.uh  u,  .,..v 

department  of  said  iustituti.u.     Tims  -vt  tl.c  vml  o 

four  vears,  and  from  that  time  on   tlu-.e  w-.M  W,  H 

all  the  places  ^-ere  tilled,    live  luuuhvd   ,md    uvvUv- 

students  availing  the.nsclvcs  of  ^ratmlious   M.^Uue.. 

tion  from  this  instituiiou.     ThMt  ocUo.Uv  ..  ..  U'K^ 

item  and  must  ueccssavilvlK-  a  Iumvv    W"   'o  1- 

borne,byit.auditw:,s,„uloul.u..nv    i;'-;-     "l"'      ' 

by  the  state  because  of, he    fact  tl.U  th.-    .  m.v,  , 

was  to  receive  the  revcuuc  aiisinu  I. H-  ''"K"  »"'" 

abovereferredto.frccaua  clear  ,.fullcx|.eu.M,. 

lationtoit.      Theeneelor,he.,r«.U-  »HueU,.M 


94 


is  stated  in  the  language  of  the  case  when  it  says 
that  if  this  action  of  the  Comptroller  is  justified, 
Cornell  University  will  be  deprived  wholly  of  the  in- 
come from  this  fund  for  nearly  two  years.  In  our 
opinion  the  Comptroller  was  not  justified  in  charg- 
ing upon  his  books  the  sum  of  thirty  eight  thousand 
and  odd  dollars  against  the  income  for  the  purpose 
of  taking  for  the  state  such  income  as  might  accrue 
in  the  future  until  it  amounted  to  that  sum.  What- 
ever amount  it  was  necessary  then,  or  may  be  necess- 
ary hereafter  to  expend  in  the  way  of  premiums  for 
investments  for  this  fund,  comes  within  the  plain 
meaning  of  the  acts  of  this  state  already  referred  to, 
and  such  amounts  are  expenses  connected  with  the 
management  and  maintenance  of  the  fund,  which 
should  be  made  good  by  the  state  by  an  appropria- 
tion from  its  treasury.  In  this  way  the  principal  is 
kept  intact  with  the  whole  income  as  payable  to  the 
University,  and  it  is  the  only  wa\'  in  which  it  can  be 
done.  Although  the  Comptroller  was  not  justified  in 
charging  this  amount  to  the  revenue  account,  yet  still 
this  court  cannot  grant  relief  in  the  way  of  a  mandamus 
for  any  greater  sum  than  is  actually  in  the  treasury 
and  which  arises  from  the  revenues  of  that  trust  fund 
and  for  which  an  appropriation  has  been  made.  The 
Comptroller  purchased  $200,000  of  bonds,  upon 
which  he  receives  interest,  and  he  paid  a  large 
premium  for  them.  Whether  he  charges  that 
premium  to  the  principal  or  to  the  income,  has  no 
effect  whatever  upon  the  fact  that  he  receives  as 
interest  upon  that  particular  investment  but  $8,000. 
The  whole  of  that  amount  is  revenue  within  the 
meaning  of  that  word  as  used  in  these  statutes,  hav- 
ing reference  to  all  the  circumstances  already  set 
forth.     We  therefore  differ  with  the  General  Term  so 


95 


for  as  to  say  tliat  the  whole  of  the  interest  received 
should  be  paid  by  the  Comptroller  under  the  lan- 
guage used  in  these  appropriations  up  to  the  amount  in 
each  year  actually  appropriated  and  no  part  of  it 
should  be  set  apart  for  the  purpose  of  making  good  the 
charge  of  the  Comptroller  against  the  income  of  the 
fund.  It  is  the  plain  duty  of  the  state  to  itself  make 
the  appropriation  necessary  to  pay  the  premium  upon 
the  bonds  purchased,  and  to  thus  keep  the  principal 
of  the  trust  fund  entirely  and  absolutely  intact,  and  to 
appropriate  to  the  University  every  dollar  of  income. 
But  if  it  did  not  perform  its  dut)-,  this  court  cannot 
compel  the  Comptroller  to  pay  out  any  funds  for 
which  the  appropriation  has  not  been  actually  made, 
nor  can  it  compel  him  to  pay  to  the  University  any 
greater  sum  than  he  has  actually  received  as  interest 
from  the  bonds  which  he  purchased  or  the  other  in- 
vestments in  which  the  trust  ftind  remains.  We  agree 
with  the  General  Term  that  the  Comptroller  could 
not  pay  under  the  language  of  these  appropriations 
any  greater  sum  than  he  actually  received  as  interest, 
and  we  do  not  think  that  the  state  is  liable  to  pay  any 
greater  sum  than  it  was  enabled  to  receive  by  reason 
of  its  investment  of  the  trust  fund  in  safe  stocks,  as 
mentioned  in  the  act  of  Congress  and  in  the  statutes 
of  our  own  state. 

In  preparing  the  oi)inion  in  the  McGraw  case 
(III  N.  Y.  66),  reference  was  incidentally  made  to  the 
duties  of  the  state  in  connection  with  the  trust  fund. 
The  subject  arose  while  discussing  the  claim  of  the 
University  that  all  the  moneys  arising  from  the  Cor- 
nell contract  of  1866,  therein  referred  to,  formed  part 
of  the  trust  fund  which  belonged  to  the  state,  the  in- 
terest of  which  was  to  be  paid  to  the  University.  It 
was  then  stated  that    such  a  claim,  if  well  founded, 


96 


cast  a  great  responsibility  upon  the  state,  and  the  re- 
quirements of  the  statute  were  then  substantially  re- 
cited as  to  the  investment  and  payment  of  interest. 
The  language  of  the  opinion  cannot  be  said  to  adjudge 
the  point  that  the  state  was  to  guarantee  the  payment 
of  the  five  per  cent,  interest,  as  the  guaranty  had  ref- 
erence to  the  principal  sum,  which  was  to  be  kept 
intact,  while  the  interest  on  an  investment  was  as- 
sumed to  be  at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent,  and  it  was  all 
to  be  paid  to  the  University  without  any  deduction. 
But  there  was  no  question  of  this  nature  before 
the  court  in  that  case,  and  none  such  was  decided. 

The  state  could  not  obtain  at  par  bonds  of  the 
character  described  in  these  acts,  paying  interest  at 
the  rate  of  five  per  cent,  and  we  do  not  think,  in  view 
of  the  language,  both  of  the  act  of  Congress  and  of 
the  statutes  of  the  state,  that  the  latter  is  liable  at  all 
events  to  ensure  to  the  University  five  per  cent,  upon 
the  amount  of  the  trust  fund,  irrespective  of  the  rate 
which  it  is  enabled  to  receive  by  investing  the  fund 
in  bonds  of  the  character  named  in  the  legislation, 
both  state  and  national,  upon  the  subject. 

We  therefore  modify  the  order  of  the  General 
Term  and  direct  the  Comptroller  to  issue  his  warrant 
for  the  payment  to  the  University  of  all  the  interest 
from  the  investment  remaining  in  his  hands  up  to  the 
amount  of  the  $25,000  appropriated  in  each  year  re- 
spectively. If  the  amount  is  not  agreed  upon  the  or- 
der can  be  settled  on  notice. 

"All  concur,  except  Finch,  J.,  not  sitting." 

A  copy  :  H.  E.  SICKLES,  Reporter, 

Per  C. 


97 

CORNELL  CONTRACT  OF  1866. 

This  agreement  made  this  fourth  day  of  August, 
eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-six,  between  the  people 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  through  their  Commis- 
sioners of  the  Land  Office,  acting  under  and  by 
virtue  of  chapter  481,  of  the  Laws  of  1866,  of  the 
first  part,  and  Ezra  Cornell,  of  Ithaca,  New  York,  of 
the  second  part  witnesseth  : 

That  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  hereby  agree 
to  sell  and  assign  and  deliver  to  the  party  of  the  sec- 
ond part  all  of  the  agricultural  land  scrip  now  in  the 
possession  or  ownership  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
consisting  of  five  thousand  and  eiglity-seven  certifi- 
cates, each  representing  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres, 
on  the  following  terms  and  conditions  : 

ist.  That  said  party  of  the  second  part  shall  re- 
ceive said  scrip  from  time  to  time,  as  the  same  can 
be  judiciously  located,  in  parcels  representing  not  less 
than  twenty-five  thousand  acres,  paying  therefor  into 
the  Treasury  of  the  State,  on  its  assignment  and  de- 
livery to  him  by  the  Comptroller,  at  the  rate  of  thirty 
cents  per  acre  in  lawful  money  of  the  United  States, 
or  of  the  State  of  New  York,  or  in  other  good  and 
safe  stocks  or  bonds,  to  be  approved  by  the  Comp- 
troller, and  drawing  not  less  than  five  per  cent,  inter- 
est per  annum,  and  at  the  same  time  depositing  with 
the  Comptroller  stocks  or  bonds,  to  be  approved  by 
him,  to  an  amount  equal  to  an  additional  thirty  cents 
per  acre,  as  security  for  the  fulfillment  by  the  part)' 
of  the  second  part,  of  the  conditions  of  this  agree- 
ment, so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  execution  of  a  mort- 
gage to  the  State  on  the  land  to  be  entered  and  lo- 
cated with  said  scrip,    on    the   fulfillment  of  which, 


said  stock  or  bonds  so  deposited   as  security  shall  be 
returned  to  said  party  of  the  second  part. 

2d.  That  whenever  any  parcel  of  scrip  sold  and 
delivered  to  the  said  party  of  the  second  part,  under 
and  by  virtue  of  this  agreement,  shall  have  been  lo- 
cated by  him,  or  his  agents,  the  said  party  of  the  sec- 
ond part  hereby  agrees  that  he  will,  without  delay, 
furnish  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Land  Office  of 
this  State,  or  to  some  member  thereof,  to  be  desig- 
nated by  a  resolution  of  the  Board,  a  full  and  com- 
plete list  and  description  of  the  land  so  located. 

And  the  said  Board  of  Commissioners  shall,  within 
at  least  sixty  days  thereafter,  and  from  time  to  time 
subsequently,  as  may  be  found  expedient,  fix  a  mini- 
mum valuation  by  quarter  sections  at  which  the  same 
may  be  sold  by  said  party  of  the  .second  part. 

And  said  party  of  the  second  part  further  agrees 
that  lie  will  annually,  and  from  time  to  time,  when- 
ever required  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  Land  Of- 
fice, render  for  their  information  to  the  Comptroller 
a  full,  just,  and  true  account  of  all  sales  and  leases 
made  by  him,  said  report  to  be  made  in  such  form  and 
under  such  oath  as  the  Comptroller  shall  direct,  and 
will  pay  into  the  Treasury  of  the  State  the  whole  of 
the  net  profits  arising  therefrom,  which  shall  be  as- 
certained by  deducting  from  the  gross  receipts  on 
sales,  the  original  cost  of  thirty  cents  per  acre,  the 
cost  and  expenses  attending  the  location,  manage- 
ment and  sale  of  said  lands,  the  taxes  assessed  and 
paid  on  the  same  by  the  party  of  the  second  part,  and 
the  interest  at  the  rate  of  seven  per  cent,  per  annum 
on  the  several  amounts  actually  expended  and  liabili- 
ties incurred  for  such  purposes.  But  it  is  expressly 
agreed  by  the  party  of  the  second   part    that  he  will 


99 

not  sell  any  portion  of  said  lands  at  a  price  below  the 
minimum  valuation  thereon,  which  may  from  time  to 
time  be  fixed  by  the  Connnissioners  of  the  Land  Of- 
fice, without  first  obtaining  their  consent  to  do  so  in 
writing. 

3d.  That  the  stipulations  and  conditions  of  this 
agreement  shall  apply  to  each  and  every  parcel  of 
scrip  assigned  and  delivered  to  said  party  of  the  sec- 
ond part,  under  this  agreement,  and  the  Comptroller 
shall  defer  or  suspend  further  assignments  and  deliv- 
eries of  scrip  whenever  the  party  of  the  second  part 
fails  to  perform  such  stipulations  and  conditions,  in 
respect  to  any  scrip  sold  and  delivered  to  him  under 
this  agreement  until  they  have  been   complied   with. 

Except,  nevertheless,  that  stocks  or  bonds  as  se- 
curity for  the  return  and  mortgage  of  lands  located  un- 
der scrip  to  the  party  of  the  second  part,  shall  in  no 
case  be  required  when  there  shall  remain  in  the  hands 
of  the  Comptroller  by  virtue  of  this  agreement,  mort- 
gaged lands  not  released,  equal  in  quantity  to  the 
scrip  which  may  be  issued  by  the  party  of  the  second 
part  and  remain  not  located  and  mortgaged  as  pro- 
vided by  this  agreement. 

4th.  That  as  often  as  and  whenever  the  party  of 
the  second  part  shall  furnish  a  description  of  any  of  the 
lands  selected  and  located  by  him  under  and  by  virtue 
of  said  scrip,  he  shall  immediately  execute  a  mort- 
gage thereon  to  the  people  of  this  State,  to  be  ap- 
proved by  the  .\ttorney-General,  conditioned  that  the 
said  party  of  the  second  part  will  fnlly  keep  and  per- 
form each  and  every  of  the  terms  and  conditions  he 
is  required  to  do,  keep  and  perform. 

And  this  airreemcnt  is  declared  to  be    a  continu- 


lOO 


ing  agreement,  and  a  suit  or  snits  at  law,  or  in  equi- 
ty, may  be  from  time  to  time  instituted  and  main- 
tained thereon,  and  upon  any  or  all  of  said  mortgages, 
for  any  violation  of  such  terms  and  conditions,  when- 
ever such  violation  may  occur. 

Said  mortgages  shall  be  delivered  to  the    Comp- 
troller, or  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Land    Office. 

5  th.  Whenever  the  party  of  the  second  part  shall 
sell  or  dispose  of  any  section  of  the  lands  acquired  by 
him  under  this  agreement,  and  pay  into  the  treasury 
of  the  State  the  net  profits  resulting  from  such  sale, 
after  the  deductions  hereinbefore  mentioned  and  pro- 
vided for,  the  party  of  the  first  part  shall  execute  and 
deliver  to  the  party  of  the  second  part  a  full  and  suf- 
ficient release  of  the  portion  sold  from  the  lien  of  the 
mortgage,  so  that  a  clear  title  can  be  vested  in  the 
purchaser  or  purchasers. 

6lh.  That  of  the  moneys  arising  from  sales  or  leas- 
es made  by  the  party  of  the  second  part,  and  paid  into 
the  State  Treasury  as  herein  provided,  a  proportion 
equal  to  thirty  cents  per  acre  shall  be  added  to  and 
form  a  part  of  the  fund  known  and  designated  on  the 
records  of  the  Comptroller's  Office  as  the  "College 
Land  Scrip  Fund,"  and  the  remainder  shall  consti- 
tute a  separate  and  distinct  fund,  which  shall  be  the 
property  of  the  "Cornell  University,"  to  be  known 
as  the  "Cornell  Endowment  Fund,"  the  principal  of 
which  shall  forever  remain  unimpaired,  the  income 
to  be  annually  appropriated  by  the  Legislature,  and 
paid  over  from  time  to  time  to  the  Trustees  of  the 
Cornell  University,  to  be  by  them  devoted  to  the  pur- 
poses of  the  institution. 

7th.  That  the  said  party  of  the  second  pari  further 
agrees  to  purchase  the  whole  of  the  aforesaid    scrip, 


and  select  and  locate  lands  under  and  by  virtue  there- 
of, and  execute  mortgages  thereon,  as  hereinbefore 
provided  within  four  years  from  the  date  hereof,  and 
that  he  will  sell  the  lands  within  twenty  years  from 
date,  and  pay  the  net  profits  arising  from  such  sales 
into  the  Treasury  of  this  State,  and  that  until  the 
same  shall  be  sold  and  the  net  profits  so  paid,  he  will 
pay  all  taxes  which  may  be  assessed  thereon,  and  pre- 
serve and  maintain  a  title  thereto  unimpaired,  to 
which  the  liens  created  by  said  mortgages  shall  at- 
tach. 

And  if  any  event  shall  occur  making  it  needful  for 
the  people  of  the  State  to  incur  any  expense  to  pre- 
serve the  lien  of  said  mortgages,  the  same  shall  be 
paid  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  said  lands. 

And  if,  after  the  expiration  of  the  period  of  four 
years  hereinbefore  fixed,  any  of  said  scrip  shall  re- 
main with  this  State,  and  not  have  been  paid  for  by 
the  party  of  the  second  part,  the  same  shall  be  releas- 
ed thereafter  from  the  conditions  and  stipulations  of 
this  agreement. 

Hon,  Ezra  Cornell  made  the  following  appli- 
cation : 

I  apply  for  such  temporary  modification  of  my 
agreement  with  the  Commissioners  of  the  Land  Office 
in  relation  to  tlie  College  Land  Scrip,  so  that  for  the 
present  the  Comptroller  will  receive  an  assignment  of 
Land  Receiver's  certificates  in  lieu  of  a  mortgage  on 
the  lands  to  be  patented  to  me  on  such  certificates. 

E.   CORXKLL. 


I02 


CONGRESSIONAL  ACT. 

In  1862,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  passed 
the  following  act : 

Chapter  130. — An  act  donating  pnblic  lands  to  the 
several  states  and  territories  which  may  provide  col- 
leges for  the  benefit  of  agricnlture  and  the  mechanic 
arts. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Represen- 
tatives of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress 
assembled^  that  there  be  granted  to  the  several  states, 
for  the  purposes  hereinafter  mentioned,  an  amount  of 
public  land  to  be  apportioned  to  each  state  a  quantity 
equal  to  thirty  thousand  acres  for  each  senator  and 
representative  in  congress  to  which  the  states  are  re- 
spectively entitled  by  the  apportionment  under  the 
census  of  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty. 

Provided,  That  no  mineral  lands  shall  be  selected 
or  purchased  under  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

Section  2 — And  be  it  further  enacted,  that  the 
land  aforesaid,  after  being  surveyed,  shall  be  appor- 
tioned to  the  several  states  in  sections  or  subdivisions 
of  sections,  not  less  than  one-quarter  of  a  section;  and 
whenever  there  are  public  lands  in  a  state  subject  to 
sale  at  private  entry  at  one  dollar  and  twenty-fiv-e  cents 
per  acre,  the  quantity  to  which  said  state  shall  be  enti- 
tled shall  be  selected  from  such  lands  within  the  limits 
of  such  state,  and  the  secretary  of  the  interior  is  here- 
by directed  to  issue  to  each  of  the  states  in  which 
there  is  not  the  quantity  of  public  lands  subject  to  sale 
at  private  entry  at  one  dollar  and  twents-five  cents  per 
acre,  to  which  said  state  may  be  entitled  under  the 
provisions  of  this  act,  land  scrip  to  the  amount  in  acres 


I03 

for  the  deficiency  of  its  distributive  share  ;  said  scrip 
to  be  sold  by  said  states  and  the  proceeds  thereof  ap- 
plied to  the  uses  and  purposes  prescribed  in  this  act, 
and  for  no  other  use  or  purpose  whatsoever. 

Provided^  That  in  no  case  shall  an\' state  to  which 
land  scrip  may  thus  be  issued  be  allowed  to  locate  the 
same  within  the  limits  of  any  other  state,  or  of  any 
territory  of  the  United  States,  but  there  assignees 
may  thus  locate  said  land  scrip  upon  any  of  the  un- 
appropriated lands  of  the  United  States  Subject  to 
sale  at  private  entry  at  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  or  less  per  acre. 

And  provided  further^  That  not  more  than  one 
million  acres  shall  be  located  by  such  assignees  in  any 
one  of  the  states. 

And  provided  further.  That  no  such  location  shall 
be  made  before  one  year  from  the  passage  of  this  act. 

Section  3 — And  be  it  further  enacted^  That  all 
the  expenses  of  management,  superintendence,  and 
taxes  from  date  of  selection  of  said  lands  previous  to 
sale,  and  all  expenses  incurred  in  the  management 
and  disbursements  of  the  moneys  which  may  be  re- 
ceived therefrom,  shall  be  paid  by  the  states  to  which 
they  may  belong,  out  of  the  treasury  of  said  states,  so 
that  the  entire  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  said  lands  shall 
be  applied  without  any  diminution  whatever  to  the 
purposes  hereinafter  mentioned. 

Si-;CTiON  4. — And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  all 
moneys  derived  from  the  sale  of  the  lands  aforesaid 
by  the  states  to  which  the  lands  are  apportioned,  and 
from  the  sales  of  land  scrip  hereinbefore  provided  for, 
shall  be  invested  in  stocks  of  the  United  States,  or  of 
the  states,  or  some  other  safe  stocks,  yielding  not  less 


I04 


than  five  per  centum  upon  tlie  par  value  of  said  stocks; 
and  that  the  moneys  so  invested  shall  constitute  a 
perpetual  fund,  the  capital  of  which  shall  Remain 
forever  undiminished,  (except  so  far  as  may  be  pro- 
vided in  section  fifth  of  this  act,)  and  the  interest  of 
which  shall  be  inviolably  appropriated,  by  each  state 
which  may  take  and  claim  the  benefit  of  this  act,  to 
the  endowment,  support,  and  maintenance  of  at  least 
one  college  where  the  leading  object  shall  be,  without 
excluding  other  scientific  and  classical  studies,  and 
including  military  tactics,  to  teach  such  branches  of 
learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechan- 
ic arts,  in  such  manner  as  the  legislatures  of  the  states 
may  respectively  prescribe,  in  order  to  promote  the 
liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial  class- 
es in  the  several  pursuits  and  professions  in  life. 

Section  5. — And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  the 
grant  of  land  and  land  scrip  hereby  authorized  shall 
be  made  on  the  following  conditions,  to  which,  as  well 
as  to  the  provisions  hereinbefore  contained,  the  pre- 
vious assent  of  the  several  states  shall  be  signified  by 
legislative  acts. 

First,  If  any  portion  of  the  fund  invested,  as  pro- 
vided by  the  foregoing  section,  or  any  portion  of  the 
interest  thereon,  shall,  by  any  action  or  contingency, 
be  diminished  or  lost,  it  shall  be  replaced  by  the  state 
to  which  it  belongs,  so  that  the  capital  of  the  fund 
shall  remain  forever  undiminished  ;  and  the  annual  in- 
terest shall  be  regularly  applied,  without  diminution 
to  the  purposes  mentioned  in  the  fourth  section  of 
this  act,  except  that  a  sum,  not  exceeding  ten  per 
centum  upon  the  amount  received  by  any  state  under 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  may  be  expended  for  the 
purchase  of  lands    for   cites   or   experimental    farms 


I05 


whenever  authorized    by    the   special    le^^islatures  of 
said  states. 

Second,  No  portion  of  said  fund,  nor  the  interest 
thereon,  shall  be  applied  directly  or  indirectly,  under 
any  pretense  whatever,  to  the  purchase,  erection, 
preservation,  or  repair  of  any  buildini;-  or  buildings. 

Third,  Any  state  which  may  take  and  claim  the 
benefit  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  shall  provide, 
within  five  years,  at  least  not  less  than  one  college,  as 
described  in  the  fourth  section  of  this  act,  or  the 
grant  to  such  state  shall  cease  ;  and  said  state  shall  be 
bound  to  pay  the  United  States  the  amount  received 
of  any  lands  previously  sold,  and  that  the  title  to  pur- 
chasers under  the  state  shall  be  valid. 

Fourth,  An  annual  report  shall  be  made  regarding 
the  progress  of  each  college,  recording  any  improve- 
ments and  experiments  made,  with  their  costs  and  re- 
sults, and  such  other  matters,  including  state  indus- 
trial and  economical  statistics,  as  may  be  supposed 
useful  ;  one  copy  of  which  shall  be  transmitted  by  mail, 
free,  by  each  to  all  the  other  colleges  which  may  be 
endowed  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  also 
one  copy  to  the  secretary  of  the  interior. 

Fifth,  When  lands  shall  be  selected  from  those 
which  have  been  raised  to  double  the  minimum  price, 
in  consequence  of  railroad  grants,  they  shall  be  com- 
puted to  the  states  at  the  ma.ximum  price,  and  the 
number  of  acres  proportionately  diminished. 

Sixth,  No  state  while  in  a  condition  of  rebellion 
or  insurrection  against  the  government  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  this  act. 

Seventh,  No  state  shall  be  entitled  to  the  benefits 
of  this  act  unless  it  shall  express  its  acceptance  there- 


io6 


of  by  its  legislature  within  two  years  from  the  date  of 
its  approval  by  the  president. 

Section  6.— And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  land 
scrip  issued  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  not 
be  subject  to  location  until  after  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary, and  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three. 

Section  7. — And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  the 
land  offices  shall  receive  the  same  fees  for  locating 
scrip  issued  under  the  provisious  of  this  act  as  is  now 
allowed  for  the  location  of  military  bounty  land  war- 
rants under  existing  laws. 

Provided  That  their  maximum  compensation 
shall  not  be  thereby  increased. 

Section  8. — And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the 
governors  of  the  several  states  to  which  scrip  shall  be 
issued  under  this  act  shall  be  required  to  report  annu- 
ally to  Congress  all  sales  made  of  such  scrip  until  the 
whole  shall  be  disposed  of,  the  amount  received  for 
the  same  and  what  appropriation  has  been  made  of 
the  proceeds. 

Appi'oved,  July  2,  1862. 


INDEX. 


Iiitroducliory  Note Ill 

Communications   with   reference    to  tlie  Land 

Scrip  in  the  different  States  .    .      .    .  1-80 

Alabama - 3 

Arkansas i 

California 32 

Colorado 5 

Connecticut 57 

Dakota 64 

Delaware 75 

Florida 68 

Georgia 70 

Illinois 6 

Indiana 34 

Iowa 71 

Kansas 62 

Kentucky 67 

Louisiana 79 

i\Iaine 4 

Maryland 76 

Massachusetts 41 

Michigan 35 


INDEX. 

Minnesota 74 

Mississippi 65 

Missouri 33 

Nebraska 56 

Nevada 46 

New  Hanipsliire 11 

New  Jersey 80 

New  York.    (See  Introductory  Note.) 

North  Carolina 59 

Oliio 44 

Oregon 9 

Pennsylvania 48 

Rhode  Island 12 

South  Carolina 60 

Tennessee 

Texas   

Vermont 

Virginia 

West  Virginia 39 


Wisconsin. 


Cornell  Contract  of  1S66 


2>7 


Opinion  of  N.  Y.  Court  of  Appeals 81 


97 


Congressional  Act 102 


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